The U.S. Central Command’s official Twitter account was apparently hijacked on Monday by hackers claiming to be affiliated with ISIS, who issued a series of threats aimed at the U.S. military and their families.
The account appeared to be infiltrated for at least 25 minutes, with the @CENTCOM avatar and cover photo changed to images of an ISIS militant. A Pentagon official told Reuters that “Centcom is taking appropriate measures to address the matter.” The Twitter account was suspended about 40 minutes after the hack was detected.
It’s not yet known who the hackers were or if they are actually affiliated with ISIS.
Related: This Is the Laser That Could Take Out ISIS
The tweets included a list of American general’s names and addresses and supposed military strategies — as well as text reading “American Soldiers, We Are Coming, Watch Your Back. ISIS.” The tweets included the hashtag “#CyberCaliphate.”
It wasn’t just Central Command’s Twitter account that was compromised—apparently its Youtube page had also been hacked, with two ISIS propaganda videos uploaded to the account. One was titled “FLAMES OF WAR ISIS VIDEO” and the other “O Soldiers of Truth Go Forth.”
The hacking came just after President Obama outlined the administration’s efforts to ramp up consumer protections against cyber threats.
Top Reads from The Fiscal Times
