The US Military Just Got Hacked By 'ISIS'

A group describing itself as the "CyberCaliphate" gained control of the official Twitter and YouTube pages of US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Monday and began posting messages supportive of the jihadist group Islamic State (also known as ISIS).

"We can confirm that the CENTCOM Twitter and YouTube accounts were compromised earlier today," CENTCOM said in a statement after it regained control of the accounts. "We are taking appropriate measures to address the matter. We have no further information to provide at this time."

The hack occurred at the same time as President Barack Obama was giving a speech on cybersecurity at the offices of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. CENTCOM is overseeing the US military effort against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. 

In a press briefing following the hack, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest pointed out there's a "difference between a large data breach and the hacking of a twitter account." He also said the White House was investigating the incident. 

On Twitter, the group posted a message that declared "Pentagon networks hacked" where they indicated they broke into military "networks and personal devices." In the message the "CyberCaliphate" identified themselves as being "under the auspices of ISIS." They also included links to what they described as leaked military files. They then began posting screenshots they described as "China scenarios."

In addition to posting the messages, some of which included threats against US soldiers, the hackers changed the CENTCOM account's avatar to a picture of a masked jihadi along with the message "i love you isis." According to the Daily Beast's Nancy Youssef, the Pentagon was at a "standstill" as staffers watched the messages publish on the hacked pages. 

Within less than 40 minutes, the Twitter messages were deleted. As of this writing, both the CENTCOM YouTube and Twitter accounts have been suspended.

Last week, a hacker who also used the name Cyber Caliphate, hacked the Twitter feed of the Albuquerque Journal newspaper. 

The hack comes as America and its allies continue a campaign of airstrikes against ISIS in its territory in Syria and Iraq. The group's supporters have also recently attempted to bring the conflict to the west.