The United States Central Command (U.S. Centcom) has seen its Twitter account hacked by pro-Islamic activists, claiming to support the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).
The Cyber Caliphate which carried out the attacks also saw its Twitter account suspended following the incident. Some observers believe this may be the same group that hacked the Web sites of New Mexico's Albuquerque Journal and Maryland station WBOC.
White House officials claimed the cyberattack on Central Command was not as serious as the hijacking of the Sony Pictures Web site at the end of 2014.
Islamic hackers posted a tweet reading "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the CyberCaliphate continues its CyberJihad."
The message was taken down, and the U.S. Centcom Twitter account was deactivated following the virtual attack. In addition to hijacking the Twitter account for U.S. Centcom, hackers also broke into the YouTube page for the organization.
Spreadsheets were published on the U.S. Centcom Twitter account, detailing personal information of current and former military leaders, including their home addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses.
One tweet sent from the compromised U.S. Centcom Twitter account read "ISIS is already here, we are in your PCs, in each military base. With Allah's permission we are in Centcom now."
An image heading the U.S. Centcom Twitter page showed a person in a black-and-white headscarf following the attack. The image was adorned with the phrases "CyberCaliphate" and "I Love You ISIS."
"We can confirm that the Centcom Twitter and YouTube accounts were compromised earlier today. We are taking appropriate measures to address the matter," Central Command official declared in an official statement.
You Tube videos placed on the U.S. Centcom YouTube page by hackers included films titled "O Soldiers of Truth Go Forth," and "Flames of War ISIS Video."
United States Central Command oversaw American actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is currently managing airstrikes against targets throughout the Middle East belonging to ISIS, and related group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The organization is one of nine unified military commands in the Defense Department. Based in MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, the area of responsibility for U.S. Centcom consists of 20 nations, spread throughout the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. The organization was established in 1983, taking over operations from the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force.
The You Tube channel for U.S. Centcom featured videos depicting American airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.
