CENTCOM Twitter account hacked, suspended. CNN’s Barbara Starr reports.
The Twitter and YouTube accounts for U.S. Central Command were suspended Monday after they were hacked by ISIS sympathizers. The US-controlled @CENTCOM account used by the US Central Command, tweeted out messages threatening attacks on US military personnel and expressing support of ISIS. Almost simultaneously, Central Command’s YouTube channel showed two pro-Isis videos that were uploaded by hackers.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the CyberCaliphate continues its CyberJihad.
— Message propagated on CENTCOM Twitter Account
In a statement, CENTOM said there was no operational impact and no classified information was posted, but physical and e-mail addresses of top commanders were released in a tweet. Some of the documents appeared to list names and phone numbers of members of the military as well as PowerPoint slides and maps.
In other messages from the so-called “CyberCaliphate” the hackers claimed to have captured military secrets, but the documents demonstrated are widely available and amount to non-official information.
FBI investigating "intrusion" involving CENTCOM social media accounts – @MLevineReports http://t.co/P6MEkaMZwd pic.twitter.com/oGgHqJufNF
— ABC News (@ABC) January 12, 2015
Someone claiming to be ISIS says they hacked @CENTCOM, leaking confidential docs on Twitter http://t.co/umpXZ83ocL pic.twitter.com/iHojJmYFLP
— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) January 12, 2015
"If we're going to be connected, then we need to be protected." —President Obama #Cybersecurity
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 12, 2015
?!
U.S. military Twitter feed hacked, apparently by Islamic State sympathizers: http://t.co/SJw96Y7lXT pic.twitter.com/b3Xa8vezaV
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) January 12, 2015
The cause of the hacked accounts was unknown. A random password generator could have hit the jackpot with the correct passwords. An insider could have been careless, or could have intentionally released the password. A laptop could have been stolen, a keylogger could have been installed on a computer used by a person that managed the social media accounts. There are many ways that passwords to YouTube or Twitter accounts could have been jeopardized.
CENTCOM military theater responsibilities include countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, including Afghanistan and Iraq. CENTCOM’s main headquarters is located at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
CENTCOM or United States Central Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Department of Defense. Six of the commands are responsible for regional domains, and three are responsible for functional domains.
REGIONAL
United States Africa Command – AFRICOM
United States Central Command – CENTCOM
United States European Command – EUCOM
United States Northern Command – NORTHCOM
(contiguous United States, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico)
United States Pacific Command – PACOM
(Pacific Ocean)
United States Southern Command – SOUTHCOM
(Central and South America, the Caribbean, Panama Canal)
FUNCTIONAL
United States Special Operations Command – SOCOM
United States Strategic Command – STRATCOM
United States Transportation Command – TRANSCOM
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