U.S. Central Command calls the hacking of its Twitter account 'cybervandalism'
On Monday, a group claiming allegiance to Islamic State took over the Twitter account and YouTube page of U.S. Central Command, posting militant videos, threats to U.S. troops, and names and addresses for U.S. generals. CENTCOM is in charge of U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. The Pentagon downplayed the incident, with CENTCOM saying in a statement it is "viewing this purely as a case of cybervandalism."
"It's inconvenient, it's an annoyance, but in no way is any sensitive or classified information compromised," Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a press briefing. Still, after about a half hour, the military shut down the Twitter and YouTube accounts. As of early, Tuesday, the Twitter account is active again and shows no sign of ISIS cyber-mischief:
CENTCOM's YouTube channel is still inactive. If you're curious about the act of "cybervandalism," The Associated Press has this video with some screengrabs of the purported ISIS "CyberCaliphate" in action. --Peter Weber
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