NARAYAN LAKSHMAN
January 13, 2015
Screenshot of hacked twitter page of U.S. military's central command, including posts by apparent hackers.
A group claiming links to Islamic State (IS), the terror outfit that controls parts of Syria and Iraq, has apparently hacked into the Twitter accounts of the U.S. military’s Central Command, with the @CENTCOM handle, and subsequently posted a series of tweets including threats against U.S. soldiers and their families.
At approximately 12:30 p.m. EST an unknown group of hackers appeared to post on the @CENTCOM account the contact details of numerous U.S. soldiers including top brass, under the hashtag #CyberCaliphate.
The hack raised eyebrows for its timing, as it came even as U.S. President Barack Obama was said to be preparing a speech on cybersecurity, and the White House is organising a multi-nation conference on countering violent extremism in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris.
The warnings on Monday included statements such as, “American soldiers, we are coming, watch your back. ISIS CyberCaliphate,” and “ISIS is already here, we are in your PCs, in each military base.”
Subsequent posts noted, “Pentagon Networks Hacked! China Scenarios” and “Pentagon Networks Hacked. Korean Scenarios,” each showing maps of the relevant region along with purported nuclear or other strategic sites.
The tweet regarding IS breaching the Pentagon’s PCs was accompanied by an apparent spoof photograph showing two uniformed female officers amongst electronics and computer equipment, with one of them holding a domestic animal, possibly a goat.
However 30 minutes into the apparent hack, the tweets for which were posted earlier in the account handle @CyberCaliphate, the @CENTCOM account appeared to be suspended, possibly indicating Twitter’s attempt to restore the account.
Within the hour Pentagon officials were quoted saying that the agency was “taking appropriate measures”.
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