U.S. military social media accounts apparently hacked by Islamic State sympathizers | World Defense

U.S. military social media accounts apparently hacked by Islamic State sympathizers

Redheart

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I always thought the military's social media accounts were more secure. Apparently it's not the North Korean's or Chinese the U.S should be worried about. By hacking into the U.S military's social media accounts, ISIS proves that they are more dangerous than previously thought. They have friends everywhere . . .

U.S. military social media accounts apparently hacked by Islamic State sympathizers - The Washington Post
Hackers claiming allegiance to the Islamic State took control of the social media accounts of the U.S. military’s Central Command on Monday, posting threatening messages and propaganda videos, along with some military documents.

The command’s Twitter and YouTube accounts were eventually taken offline, but not before a string of tweets and the release of military documents, some of which listed contact information for senior military personnel. A Centcom spokesman confirmed their accounts were “compromised,” and said later that the accounts have been taken offline while the incident is investigated more.

“CENTCOM’s operation military networks were not compromised and there was no operational impact to U.S. Central Command,” a military statement said. “CENTCOM will restore service to its Twitter and YouTube accounts as quickly as possible. We are viewing this purely as a case of cybervandalism.”

Military officials added in the statement that their initial assessment is that no classified information was posted, and that none of what was released came from Centcom’s server or social media sites. The command will notify Defense Department and law enforcement authorities about the release of personally identifiable information and make sure that those affected are notified as quickly as possible, Centcom said.

Virtually all of the documents posted appear to already have been publicly available online, but the incident is nevertheless embarrassing to the U.S. military. Centcom oversees the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and frequently posts videos of airstrikes on the same accounts attacked Monday.

The United States and the Islamic State have waged a propaganda battle online for the better part of a year, after the militants rose to prominence and seized broad swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria. Twitter accounts sympathetic to the militants have distributed graphic images of beheadings and other violence along with threats, while the Defense Department and State Department have sought to expose the Islamic State as an oppressive group willing to slaughter innocent men, women and children.

The first rogue tweet Monday was posted about 12:30 p.m. and the account was not suspended for about another 40 minutes. The background and profile photo of the Twitter account were both changed to show an apparent militant and the phrases “CyberCaliphate” and “i love you isis,” using one of the acronyms for the militant group.

“AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK,” one tweet said.
 

DancingLady

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I would like to know why the US military has social media accounts in the first place. That just seems like a terribly unsecure way to communicate. Social media is supposed to be social, with some settings to limit who can view it. But they are hosted by independent owners. The military really ought to have their own thing, separate from civilian sites for their internal communications.
 

Peachdejour

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US military personnel's use of social media is very limited and controlled just in case something like this might happen. There will be long stretches of time that servicemen and women cannot access their accounts or will have to deactivate them because of missions or threats to security. Their accounts are also carefully monitors and they are not allowed to discuss work over social media or where they are and things like that. They can have their social media privileges taken away if they are caught behaving in a way that puts themselves, family, or the military in danger. They don't just parade around on facebook like the average citizen. They are very cognizant of their actions and I'm sure that this shake up will result in little headache.
 

globulon

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Yes, little consequences will come from this hack of US military accounts. I doubt the armed forces use social media for much more than outreach and publicity. Furthermore, it's very unlikely that this is a route to gain any important strategic information asides from the "leaked" documents, which were already publicly available.
 

Gabriel

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Social media is easier to hack into so while it won't gain access to confidential information it can embarrass them by controlling their account and posting things they don't want. The same is when someone hacks into your account and posts all kinds of things that can get you into trouble.

Still, it shows that that is what they are aiming for so security should be very tight by now, as long as the Secret Service don't have anything to do with it as they seem to keep slipping up.
 
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I guess I understand that basically everything has some sort of social media account these days, but I don't know who would want to follow these military accounts, or what sort of stuff they could be posting on their social media pages all of the time. And if the account is so easy to hack like that, I don't understand why the government wouldn't at least try to take extra precautions to make sure that things like this did not happen to their accounts.
 

003

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What for that they hacked a social media account. I find that those who do this are pathetic and arrogant. I mean if they want to fight, fight by their means and not used someone else's property.
 

xTinx

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I'm sure the US military isn't keeping tabs on their social media accounts as seriously as they're watching over their "top secret" documents and military data. These are more important to them seeing as they can make or break their security as well as ensure their victory over future wars. Who knows, they're simply using these social media accounts as "baits" to lure members of terrorist groups and identify their location.
 
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Why was there a social media account for this branch of the government in the first place? Why would it be so easy for anyone to hack it? I feel like if the government was going to have something like a social media account on any social media site that it would have to be so heavy duty protected so that no one would be able to do something like this to basically humiliate that branch of government and the country in the process.
 
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