US Central Command's Twitter and YouTube accounts hacked by 'Cyber Caliphate'

US Central Command's Twitter and YouTube accounts hacked by 'Cyber Caliphate'

The United States Central Command's (CENTCOM) Twitter and YouTube accounts were hacked on Tuesday by a group claiming to support the Islamic State.

CENTCOM, which is the US Department of Defence's (DoD) Command in charge of operations in Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, said that its two social media accounts were compromised for 30mins.

Signing off as the 'Cyber Caliphate', one tweet from the CENTCOM's breached Twitter account read: "American soldiers, we are coming, watch your back."

The hackers announced their actions a 'Cyber Jihad' and tweeted a China war gaming slide on the CENTCOM's Twitter account.

Labeling the breaches as 'cybervandalism', CENTCOM said that both accounts were taken offline temporarily as a precaution. USCENTCOM's social media accounts reside on commercial, non-Defence Department servers.

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"Our initial assessment is that no classified information was posted and that none of the information posted came from CENTCOM's server or social media sites," CENTCOM said in its statment.

"Additionally, we are notifying appropriate DoD and law enforcement authorities about the potential release of personally identifiable information and will take appropriate steps to ensure any individuals potentially affected are notified as quickly as possible."

A Pentagon spokesman, Army Col. Steve Warren, told the Navy Times that the onus of Twitter's security lies with Twitter, and not CENTCOM.

"CENTCOM did not get hacked," the spokesman emphasised to the Navy Times.

""This is little more, in our view, than a cyber-prank. It's an annoyance."

grongloh@sph.com.sg

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