The Twitter feed and YouTube account for the U.S. military command that oversees operations in the Middle East was hacked on Monday (January 12) by people claiming to be sympathetic toward the Islamic State militant group being targeted in American bombing raids.
The White House and the Pentagon both downplayed the incident saying no sensitive or classified information was compromised.
Security analysts J.D. Sherry, the Global Director of Technology and Solutions at TrendMicro disagreed, saying the implications shouldn’t be taken lightly.
“This often leads to other attacks and just because it’s separate and independent of a classified or unclassified network doesn’t mean the attacker doesn’t have some kind of footprint on that end users device which also bolts up to a government related network. So it’s very concerning no matter what when these types of incidents happen because it can result in secondary infections and other challenging attack factors that we are not aware of at this time,” said Sherry.
He went on to say that though the level of sophistication of these recent attacks was low, it showed the potential for the Islamic State and their sympathizers to expand and adapt.
“We can not basically, underestimate their concerning ability to mine resources and other affiliates and syndicates that can increase their capability or subsidize capability which could include training, tools, weaponry, for them to assault more sophisticated campaigns not only against the U.S. but also the private sector as well which is equally concerning.”
The Twitter feed had several messages from hackers, including one telling American soldiers to “watch your back,” and the YouTube account had two videos that appeared to be linked to Islamic State.
Islamic State has taken control of parts of Syria and Iraq. The group’s forces have been targeted in ongoing air strikes by the United States and international partners.
The Twitter account published a list of generals and addresses associated with them, titled “Army General Officer Public Roster (by rank) 2 January 2014.”
Subsequent posts read, “Pentagon Networks Hacked! China Scenarios” and “PentagonNetworks Hacked. Korean Scenarios.”
The cyber attack comes just as President Barack Obama on Monday announced new proposals aimed at bolstering American cybersecurity in the wake of recent high-profile hacking incidents including one against Sony Pictures Entertainment that U.S. officials have blamed on North Korea.
“If you look at the campaign, the timing was well thought out. Just as the president is starting to shape up his agenda for his State of the Union address, they simultaneously drop this particular hack right at the door step of the White House. So they are not lacking the ability to create fear and spread propaganda,” noted Sherry.
U.S. officials said the U.S. Central Command Twitter account and its YouTube account were suspended after being compromised.
Source: NBC / REUTERS VIA SKYPE
