Washington // The Twitter account of the US Central Command was compromised with messages purporting to be from ISIL, days after 17 people were killed in connected terrorist attacks in Paris.
Central Command confirmed today that its Twitter and YouTube accounts had been hacked. The Twitter feed was quickly suspended, and the command’s public-facing website wasn’t affected.
“We are taking appropriate measures to address the matter,” Air Force Colonel Patrick S. Ryder, a Central Command spokesman, said in an email.
Central Command’s area of responsibility covers Afghanistan and the Middle East, including Iraq, Syria and Iran, and it is leading the US fight against ISIL extremists.
The hackers posted what appear to be rosters of US personnel, including contact information for three Army commands and a roster of retired Army generals.
The information is accompanied by warning messages such as “We won’t stop! We know everything about you, your wives and children.”
The incident took place as president Barack Obama was speaking in Washington about his administration’s push to strengthen cybersecurity and bolster consumer protections from data breaches.
* Bloomberg News
