By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America – Earlier this week the Twitter and YouTube accounts for the U.S. military command, which oversees operations in the Middle East and Asia, were hacked by people claiming to be sympathetic toward ISIS. Central command is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. The United States and coalition partners have recently targeted Islamic State forces in air strikes.

The Twitter account read, “American soldiers, we are coming, watch your back, ISIS.” “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the CyberCaliphate continues its CyberJihad,” could be found on the Twitter feed of Central Command also. Several U.S. security and intelligence officials have stated that they are skeptical as to CyberCalpphate’s capabilities. Pentagon spokesman, Army Colonel Steve Warren, commented on the hacking, stating that the Defense Department “views this as little more than a prank, or as vandalism,” “It’s inconvenient, it’s an annoyance but in no way is any sensitive or classified information compromised,” Warren stated at a press briefing.

Media outlets, such as Reuters, reviewed some of the documents released by the hackers, and stated that no security threats could be immediately identified. Thus, it did not seem that the national security was put at risk. Accordingly, many of the released documents were easily found using a basic Google search. The intelligence community maintains that the incident was minimal and posed no threat. A former senior U.S. intelligence official stated, “Hacking a Twitter is about the equivalent of spray-painting a subway car.”

President Barack Obama was in the midst of announcing proposals aimed at strengthening the United States cyber security policies when the hacking took place. President Obama has proposed to give law enforcement agencies broader power to investigate and prosecute cybercrime. The President was addressing the recent hack of Sony Pictures, which the U.S has attributed to North Korea, and reminded the public that the United States is vulnerable in the area of cyber security.

 

For more information, please see the following:

BBC – US Centcom Twitter Account Hacked by Pro-IS group – 12 Jan. 2015.

DAILY TIMES – Apparent Islamic State Backers Hack US Military Twitter Feed – 14 Jan. 2015.

REUTERS – Apparent Islamic State Backers Hack U.S. Military Twitter Feed – 12 Jan. 2015.

YAHOO NEWS – Obama Seeks Enhanced Cybersecurity Laws to Fight Hackers – 13 Jan. 2015.