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US Central Command's Twitter Account Hacked, Filled With Pro-ISIS Messages

schwit1 writes with news that U.S. Central Command lost control of its Twitter account today, apparently to people sympathetic to the Islamic State militant group. CENTCOM's YouTube account was also compromised, and two videos related to ISIS were posted. Two U.S. defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the hacking was an embarrassment but did not appear to be a security threat. ... "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the CyberCaliphate continues its CyberJihad," the Centcom Twitter feed said after being hacked. 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. The Twitter account published a list of generals and addresses associated with them, titled "Army General Officer Public Roster (by rank) 2 January 2014."

128 comments

  1. Woaaa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thanks a lot for these re-assuring words! ... for a moment I thought IS got access to the nuclear launch codes via their web site!

  2. Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    U.S. Central Command had a weak twitter password and looks like idiots today.

    1. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Another title suggestion: twitter is a joke, and a well written email is usually enough to have them hand over the keys to an account.

    2. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it's found that Twitter handed the account's credentials to IS... they are gonna look pretty bad.

    3. Re:Other title sugestion by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 1

      Another title suggestion: Having a Twitter account does nothing but make an organization look unprofessional.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    4. Re:Other title sugestion by zlives · · Score: 2

      Senator Richard Pictweet (D) agrees with you.

    5. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If it's found that Twitter handed the account's credentials to IS... they are gonna look pretty bad.

      A major command from the US Department of Defense has a fucking Twitter account. I really don't think it could look any worse.

      Yup, right about now CENTCOM brass is trying to figure why they signed up for that Twitter shit in the first place.

    6. Re:Other title sugestion by nospam007 · · Score: 2

      "If it's found that Twitter handed the account's credentials to IS... they are gonna look pretty bad."

      I wonder what the Central Command's first pet was named.

    7. Re:Other title sugestion by rmstar · · Score: 1

      Another title suggestion: Having a Twitter account does nothing but make an organization look unprofessional.

      Have you been hiding under a rock? Nowadays, to look really professional you need a string of icons for different social media. Twitter, Facebook, and a bunch of others.

      That it is utterly ridiculous - granted. That it looks unprofessional - unfortunately not to most people.

    8. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Because everyone in marketing thinks the target age demographic for for everything that exists is 12.

    9. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Coincidentally, my twitter account had its password changed today. I used a randomly generated, unique password that was longer than 16 characters consisting of letters, numbers, and symbols.

      It seems unlikely that it was guessed...

    10. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      U.S. Central Command had a weak twitter password and looks like idiots today.

      More likely, US Central Command twitter, which is nothing but external resource, has a weak password on purpose, so once it is "haxed" it becomes a visible example of why they need much more money for their offensive cyber command.

      Before you say I'm making shit up, sorry, these things happen ALL THE TIME. Failure is one of the ways how you get more money.

    11. Re:Other title sugestion by Etherwalk · · Score: 2

      If it's found that Twitter handed the account's credentials to IS... they are gonna look pretty bad.

      A major command from the US Department of Defense has a fucking Twitter account. I really don't think it could look any worse.

      Yup, right about now CENTCOM brass is trying to figure why they signed up for that Twitter shit in the first place.

      There are lots of legitimate reasons why they could do it. Ultimately I'm sure it was a small part of a larger strategy to do something community-relations related on page 25 of a powerpoint presentation.

    12. Re:Other title sugestion by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      045EFB3B-3EC4-4D6D-99A5-E87E23AEE929

      That was easy.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    13. Re:Other title sugestion by Solandri · · Score: 4, Interesting

      [organization] had a weak twitter password and looks like idiots today

      This is actually a serious problem I've encountered in business, with no real tools to address it. You can have the tightest security within your organization, but things like Twitter accounts are out of your control. You have to rely on the security of Twitter.

      Unfortunately, most businesses rarely have a single person who needs access to that type of account. Generally they have an entire department which needs to use it. But companies like Twitter and Facebook don't support any sort of multi-user logins for a single account (Google sort of does with Google Apps for Domains). It's one account, so there's one password, and that password has to be shared with everyone who needs to access that one account. So it inevitably ends up posted on the refrigerator door, or stored on the server as a shared file, or even emailed around. Easily stolen by anyone who hacks in or even visits the premises and happens to glance at the refrigerator door.

      The best solution I could think of was if a password manager like KeePass would support managed multi-user credentials. That is, each individual has their own KeePass keychain with their own personal passswords, but an administrative user can insert a special hook for a shared password. So the user could use their KeePass passphrase to login to the shared Twitter account, but they wouldn't actually know the Twitter password and it wouldn't be stored on their keychain. Any time they needed to login, their KeePass would authenticate itself with the admin KeePass, which would log them into Twitter for them. When the person quits or is fired, the admin can just revoke that person's access to the admin KeePass keychain. No need to change the password and email the new password to everyone (thus creating a potential security breach) because the person who left is a potential security breach.

    14. Re: Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's really only out there as an NSA honeypot. Now we know there methods and source. Thanks ISIS hackers!

    15. Re:Other title sugestion by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      U.S. Central Command had a weak twitter password and looks like idiots today.

      Tomorrow:

      U.S. Central Command had a moderately stronger twitter password but still looks like idiots.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    16. Re:Other title sugestion by Ghaoth · · Score: 1

      If your password is unlikely to be guessed then why change it to another unlikely to be guessed password?

      --
      Nos Morituri te salutamus
    17. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because somebody other than me changed it.

    18. Re:Other title sugestion by LessThanObvious · · Score: 1

      If communication is critical and false communication could result in the loss of life, twitter is not an appropriate resource. I'm sorry it's the only way to share info in a way the masses will listen, but it's just reality that there is no way to make consumer social media communications safe for state sponsored critical communications. In order to be remotely sane you'd at least have to have and extremely long complex password, 2FA and you need some mechanism where two authorized parties have to approve any message before it can be sent. Even at that without some special access and change audit controls and alerts it's a risk to involve a third party in communications.

    19. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because somebody other than me changed it.

      All sorts of people have their accounts taken over, something else is going on other than password guessing.

    20. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The same reason they signed up for that idiocy called Facebook; it's another attack of the Good Idea Fairy. Some fool (probably a Civilian GS or a Lieutenant Colonel) thought it would "engage the youth" and "establish relevance", but secretly it made them feel important, so they incessantly annoyed everyone until the weak-minded in the organization (mainly other GSes and LTCs) convinced some idiot of an SES to actually greenlight it.

    21. Re:Other title sugestion by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Is anything specifically known about how ISIS got in?

    22. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dang, and we thought iamgod would be secure!

    23. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what I was implying. I think the fault lies with Twitter, not with CENTCOM. I rarely use my account, and I haven't even accessed it in over a year. The only applications that have ever handled my password are:

      • Chrome (logging in through the web client; several years ago)
      • Twitter for iPad (by Twitter)
      • Twitter for iPhone (by Twitter)
      • iOS Twitter integration
      • The password manager I use

      So, either: 1. one (or more) of these are compromised; 2. Twitter somehow leaked my account info; or 3. Twitter suffered some other security lapse (e.g. social engineering support).

    24. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately, most businesses rarely have a single person who needs access to that type of account. Generally they have an entire department which needs to use it. But companies like Twitter and Facebook don't support any sort of multi-user logins for a single account (Google sort of does with Google Apps for Domains). It's one account, so there's one password, and that password has to be shared with everyone who needs to access that one account.

      For Twitter, there's a software package called Tweet Deck that wraps this in as an aftermarket feature. You have one guy, say the Marketing Director, who knows the password to the Twitter account; he enters that into Tweet Deck. Marketing Director then makes accounts for the people in the Marketing department who "need" to send out Twats on behalf of the company. He can assign these users the permission to Twat on behalf of the official company account. Those people never know the actual Twitter account password, they just have their own login to the Tweet Deck software. This way you don't have the Twitter password sitting in a text file on the \\Marketing share (e.g. Sony).

      It pains me like you'll never believe that a) this shit exists, and b) I have to support it. But it's out there, for whatever that's worth.

    25. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you high up in the DoD?

    26. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not even a g64 character password will not save you from social engineering.

    27. Re:Other title sugestion by jaseuk · · Score: 1

      Facebook has fine grained permissions for pages/groups etc.. (admin/editor/contributor etc.)

      Twitter/Facebook also allow you to offload the running of the account to an app. (e.g. Hootsuite, SocialOomph, Tweetdeck, etc.)

      Either of these solutions mean that you don't have a single password in use for social networking.

      Jason.

    28. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Another workaround that Google provides is hidden under two-factor authentication with site-specific passwords. You can create multiple passwords for your account that can be used by different services, so if one service is hacked you just kill that password and create a new one, without interrupting any other services.

    29. Re:Other title sugestion by lemur3 · · Score: 1

      The best solution I could think of was if a password manager like KeePass would support managed multi-user credentials. That is, each individual has their own KeePass keychain with their own personal passswords, but an administrative user can insert a special hook for a shared password. So the user could use their KeePass passphrase to login to the shared Twitter account, but they wouldn't actually know the Twitter password and it wouldn't be stored on their keychain. Any time they needed to login, their KeePass would authenticate itself with the admin KeePass, which would log them into Twitter for them. When the person quits or is fired, the admin can just revoke that person's access to the admin KeePass keychain. No need to change the password and email the new password to everyone (thus creating a potential security breach) because the person who left is a potential security breach.

      LastPass supports this on their "Premium" and "Enterprise" accounts.

      You can add sites to a folder which the administrator can control and that administrator can decide if the user will be able to 'see' the password or leave it hidden to all users.

      Users will need their own unique password (and potentially Two Factor auth) to access the 'hidden' Twitter password account.

      https://enterprise.lastpass.co... enterprise
      https://helpdesk.lastpass.com/... 'premium'

    30. Re:Other title sugestion by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Twitter supports two factor authentication. For an organization this big, is it really beyond their ability to have a phone or tablet running Google Authenticator plugged in for the Social Media Relations department?

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    31. Re:Other title sugestion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yeah. Or setting up a decent password policy over time and have manager X eventually requesting that executives Y and Z reaaaally need a 'letmein' password - though every lesser employee with less-privileged account has had a random-generated string of chars.

  3. Quick, Colonel, change the Twitter password! by QilessQi · · Score: 4, Funny

    This time, try 1-2-3-4-6! That's the new password on my luggage!

    1. Re:Quick, Colonel, change the Twitter password! by Major+Blud · · Score: 3, Funny

      What's the matter Colonel Sanders? CHIIIIIICKEN?!?

      --
      If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
    2. Re:Quick, Colonel, change the Twitter password! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hahaha, wow I'm sure the password must have been very lame...

      IMO, the terrorist hackers should have released fake news just for laughs or to get the media and/or conspiracy theorists go wild.

      Examples:
      "Finally, the large scale deployment of US combat troops in Iraq and Syria began today!"
      "We bombarded several schools today killing hundreds of children. We are investigating..."
      "Air Force One shut down over Virginia by Islamic State. President Obama missing, presumed dead."

    3. Re:Quick, Colonel, change the Twitter password! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      More like changing 00000000 to 999999999

      TMYK

    4. Re:Quick, Colonel, change the Twitter password! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was their main recruiting poster, hung nearly ten feet up a wall! This means the hackers have LADDER technology! Are we headed for a future where everyone has to pay $50 for one of those locked plexiglass poster covers? More after the break

    5. Re:Quick, Colonel, change the Twitter password! by TheFunkyShmoo · · Score: 1

      PREPARE SHIP... Prepare the ship for ludicrous speed!

    6. Re:Quick, Colonel, change the Twitter password! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This time, try 1-2-3-4-6! That's the new password on my luggage!

      I vote for 2-4-6-8-who-do-we-appreciate-isis-isis-isis! :-)

    7. Re:Quick, Colonel, change the Twitter password! by antdude · · Score: 1

      Bok bok bok! [clucks and flaps wings]

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    8. Re:Quick, Colonel, change the Twitter password! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you know my password?

      I can't believe that with all of the billions of dollars we spend on national defense that we don't have a national twitter defense strategy. If we can't protect twitter, then we are doomed. /sarcasm

  4. I thought Anon was going to hunt them all down? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What the fuck guys? Quit posting dick pics in /b/ and get to it.

    To arms, internet tough guys!

    1. Re:I thought Anon was going to hunt them all down? by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      To arms netizens!
      form your subject lines
      type on
      type on
      until their impure posts are drowned in our flame

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
  5. Before this gets even more overblown... by barlevg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...just remember this XKCD: http://xkcd.com/932/

    1. Re:Before this gets even more overblown... by JWSmythe · · Score: 1

      So close, but instead of a poster, it's a 140 character scribble on the bathroom wall of the Internet, and childish clips of kids kicking each other in their nuts.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_4jrMwvZ2A

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    2. Re:Before this gets even more overblown... by Charliemopps · · Score: 2

      ...just remember this XKCD: http://xkcd.com/932/

      You're assuming they aren't using the same password for their Twitter account that they're using for the Nukes launch codes.

      Oh... you think I'm kidding?
      Seriously... it's a real concern:
      http://www.theguardian.com/wor...

    3. Re:Before this gets even more overblown... by istartedi · · Score: 1

      Scrolled down for this. Left satisfied.

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    4. Re:Before this gets even more overblown... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      ...just remember this XKCD: http://xkcd.com/932/

      You're assuming they aren't using the same password for their Twitter account that they're using for the Nukes launch codes.

      Oh... you think I'm kidding?
      Seriously... it's a real concern:
      http://www.theguardian.com/wor...

      Besides the physical security thing involved with a nuclear missile silo

    5. Re:Before this gets even more overblown... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Twitter account, nuclear launch codes, and their luggage.

    6. Re:Before this gets even more overblown... by Somebody+Is+Using+My · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure the physical security is that much of a deterrent (there was another article that I couldn't find which listed a host of similar issues, including allowing pizza delivery guys to the silo). The job of being a silo-jockey is not considered particularly prestigious in the USAF and we aren't getting the best of the best to guard our most powerful weapons.

      On the other hand, finding a floppy disk these days to launch the damn things might be a bit harder to manage.

    7. Re:Before this gets even more overblown... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think we need to come up with a term describing the use of XKCD links in lieu of written or verbal communication. "Yawn" is the first thing that comes to mind.

    8. Re:Before this gets even more overblown... by q4Fry · · Score: 1

      Ditto.

  6. So, um... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Has Twitter not realized that they could, perhaps, develop at least one non-ridiculous alleged source of revenue by charging cost-insensitive, but potentially touchy, users substantial additional fees for more secure access?

    Have they done so; but CENTCOM can't afford an auth fob because of cost overruns incurred by the F-35?

    Somebody here is an idiot; but who?

    1. Re:So, um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      CENTCOM. Why do they have a twitter account? Do they also have accounts on various porn sites?

    2. Re:So, um... by Tvingo · · Score: 1

      Most of these sites should have two factor autentication set up at least with a mobile so you don't need a FOB for free. Google does. Not sure how many others do.

      --
      Nothing i have to say is worth saying.
    3. Re:So, um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Every political organization has a public relations portal. Yes, CENTCOM needs money, so:yes, CENTCOM is sensitive to political visibility.

      It's also a method for outsourcing the cost of communications infrastructure in a BYOD world, with the understanding that everything said via that channel is OSINT and needs to be sanitized for OPSEC/sensitive materials. The OSINT subscribers have to be sensitive to the potential for misinformation which can be exploited.

      Shit like this is normally just used for press releases and horn blowing.

    4. Re:So, um... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1

      Well, the options seem to be (A) some 'social media guru' has moved to sponging directly off the DoD, (B) it's the more-pathetic arm of another delightful propaganda effort, along the lines of whatever they were trying to buy 'persona management' sockpuppetware for, or (C) it's a shamefully feeble attempt to cultivate 'soft power' by emulating kids these days.

    5. Re:So, um... by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 1

      Every MAJCOM has one. As well as facebook. Most of the commanders have a public one as well.

    6. Re:So, um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do they also have accounts on various porn sites?

      I would think so.

      Our military is prepared for any contingency; from invading the United Kingdom to stopping a surprise advance from hot barely legal teen sluts.

    7. Re:So, um... by TheFunkyShmoo · · Score: 1

      "CENTCOM. Why do they have a twitter account? " That's the first thing I thought of. What possible reason could a military organization have for needing a twitter account? I understand the desire to not get "left behind" the tech revolution and all, but what the hell? Generally speaking, I have a great deal of respect for front-line soldiers, but decidedly less so for the kinds upper echelon "leaders" that believe it makes sense to waste defense resources on such utter bullshit. Perhaps they should also have a Shutterfly account so they can share cute pictures of their cats holding their paws up when there's an M4 rifle pointed at them.

    8. Re:So, um... by TheFunkyShmoo · · Score: 1

      If there's one thing our country needs to devote less money to it's "defense" spending. Well hell, we can't afford to deliver proper healthcare or education to our people, but we can sure as hell sinks trillions of dollars into a shiny new jet fighter program. Our defense spending dwarfs that of any other nation in total expenditures, and with a few exceptions (Saudi Arabia being the most notable example) as a percentage of GDP.

    9. Re:So, um... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      Whom

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    10. Re:So, um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Saudi Arabia is the non-christian America and has similar issues, very few people hoard all the money, and the big bucks are spent keeping it that way. I can't believe how people live in poverty in such a rich country. Now guess about what country the last sentence was, remember one is a dictatorship.

    11. Re:So, um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, that would be the CIA, because their contacts in SWA go nuts for that shit.

    12. Re:So, um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm trying to imagine my dad (Colonel USArmy Ret) having an official twitter account... needing one would be a career killer, because there's just no way...

    13. Re:So, um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... have accounts on various porn sites?

      They're watching HumInt agents use penetration testing to catch ISIS sympathizers.

    14. Re:So, um... by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      We can afford to deliver proper healthcare. Total up what US governments spend on medical expenses, and you can find countries with good universal health care that spend less than that per capita.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  7. Bunch of idiots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Hey Jamal, what are you doing?"

    "Well, Achmed, you remember how the American pigs blew up my family when I was hiding behind them and using them as a shield, and how they continually try to bring modern culture and women's rights and so on to our country?"

    "......Yes...."

    "I finally have my revenge! Look! Look what I have done for Allah!"

    "That....that's nice, Jamal. It...you....ummm....I'm sure the Americans are weeping in shame and fear right now. If...if you'll excuse me, I need to go someplace....else...."

  8. Sinful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Oh, sugar, you just gone and done the dumbest thing in your whole life."

  9. And? by mitcheli · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seeing as how 15 year old school girls make a point to hack their boyfriends twitter feeds on a regular basis, I'd hardly say that the efforts of the cyber caliphate qualifies as "leet". And as for the threats of watching their backs, US military personnel have been involved in deployments overseas non-stop since 2001 and even before that. I think they know that already. Think I'd have to agree. It's embarrassing (kinda like getting caught with your zipper down) but ultimately, an annoyance and nothing more.

    --
    Select from tblFriends where interesting >= 4;
    1. Re:And? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Using shoulder surfing or keyloggers against CENTCOM is impressive for a 15 year old girl. Using shoulder surfing or keyloggers against a 15 year old boy is not.

    2. Re:And? by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      It was probably shitty weak passwords. Here is a helpful tutorial that should explain everything.

      --
      Time to offend someone
  10. BBC News - Suicide Bombers Go On Strike by Tokolosh · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oldie, but goodie:

    Muslim suicide bombers in Britain are set to begin a three-day strike on Monday in a dispute over the number of virgins they are entitled to in the afterlife. Emergency talks with Al Qaeda have so far failed to produce an agreement.

    The unrest began last Tuesday when Al Qaeda announced that the number of virgins a suicide bomber would receive after his death would be cut by 25% this February from 72 to 54. A spokesman said increases in recent years in the number of suicide bombings has resulted in a shortage of virgins in the afterlife.

    The suicide bombers' union, the British Organization of Occupational Martyrs (or B.O.O.M.) responded with a statement saying the move was unacceptable to its members and called for a strike vote. General Secretary Abdullah Amir told the press, "Our members are literally working themselves to death in the cause of Jihad. We don't ask for much in return but to be treated like this is like a kick in the teeth" Speaking from his shed in Tipton in the West Midlands, Al Qaeda chief executive Haisheet Mapants explained, "I sympathize with our workers concerns but Al Qaeda is simply not in a position to meet their demands.

    They are simply not accepting the realities of modern-day Jihad in a competitive marketplace. Thanks to Western depravity, there is now a chronic shortage of virgins in the afterlife. It's a straight choice between reducing expenditures or laying people off. I don't like cutting benefits but I'd hate to have to tell 3,000 of my staff that they won't be able to blow themselves up.

    Spokespersons for the union in the North East of England, Ireland, Wales and the entire Australian continent stated that the change would not hurt their membership as there are so few virgins in their areas anyway.

    According to some industry sources, the recent drop in the number of suicide bombings has been attributed to the emergence of Scottish singing star, Susan Boyle. Many Muslim Jihadists now know what a virgin looks like and have reconsidered their benefit packages.

    --
    Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
    1. Re:BBC News - Suicide Bombers Go On Strike by Tablizer · · Score: 1, Funny

      Shortage of virg1ns? Try mining Slashdot. The contract says nothing about quality.

    2. Re:BBC News - Suicide Bombers Go On Strike by zlives · · Score: 1

      " now know what a virgin looks like and have reconsidered their benefit packages"

      holy crap that was funny. wish i had mod points

    3. Re:BBC News - Suicide Bombers Go On Strike by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, you laugh - but Abu'l 'Ala al-Ma'ari made almost exactly that joke in *Epistle of Forgiveness* about a thousand years ago. In thanks, the al-Nusra Front decapitated his statue in 2013.

    4. Re:BBC News - Suicide Bombers Go On Strike by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Al Qaeda announced that the number of virgins a suicide bomber would receive after his death would be cut by 25% this February from 72 to 54. A spokesman said increases in recent years in the number of suicide bombings has resulted in a shortage of virgins in the afterlife.

      Unless there's a different source.

    5. Re:BBC News - Suicide Bombers Go On Strike by tsqr · · Score: 1

      These are not the virgins you are looking for.

  11. Hacked? Uh huh, sure... by ErichTheRed · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The PFC appointed as Social Media Officer probably chose a weak password. Seriously, whenever I see a news article about a social media account being "hacked," I really wish journalists would understand these are just password-protected web services!

    Celebrities' naked pictures and Twitter feeds get hacked because they have simple passwords, not because some genius hacker spends months looking for an exploit on their personal phone and the opportunity to introduce it. And even "security question" based password resets don't work when a celebrity will choose answers that anyone can find in 100 gossip rags.

    1. Re:Hacked? Uh huh, sure... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The PFC appointed as Social Media Officer probably chose a weak password. Seriously, whenever I see a news article about a social media account being "hacked," I really wish journalists would understand these are just password-protected web services!

      Except it doesn't matter.

      Because, much like the DMCA made even incompetent security enshrined in law ... if you or I 'hacked' into someone's Twitter feed using these simple techniques, we would be facing serious criminal charges.

      In the eyes of the law, this trivial form of 'hacking' is as serious as anything else.

      I can't tell you how many websites which have a pre-determined list of "security questions" which almost anybody could get through public sources.

      All you have to do is pretend to have some security and it's just as illegal.

      The media doesn't need to differentiate between one form of hacking and another -- because the fscking law doesn't. Unless of course it's law enforcement doing it, and then it's apparently perfectly legal.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Hacked? Uh huh, sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who cares about pre-determined security questions? Nobody is forcing anyone to answer them with the truth.

    3. Re:Hacked? Uh huh, sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or in journalists terms, this "Hack" was at the level of "A letter to the editor" being published and the writer then claiming they are a journalist for said magazine/newspaper.

    4. Re:Hacked? Uh huh, sure... by Charliemopps · · Score: 1

      The PFC appointed as Social Media Officer probably chose a weak password. Seriously, whenever I see a news article about a social media account being "hacked," I really wish journalists would understand these are just password-protected web services!

      Celebrities' naked pictures and Twitter feeds get hacked because they have simple passwords, not because some genius hacker spends months looking for an exploit on their personal phone and the opportunity to introduce it. And even "security question" based password resets don't work when a celebrity will choose answers that anyone can find in 100 gossip rags.

      And cockroaches scuttling across a restaurant floor don't mean the place is dirty either. But I get up and leave either way.

    5. Re:Hacked? Uh huh, sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you have a lock on an old rickety door and compare it to a two-key deadbolt door, does it really matter in the eyes of the law that the old rickety door is easier to bypass? The breach in security is still a breach, no matter how stong the securty.

    6. Re:Hacked? Uh huh, sure... by glwtta · · Score: 1

      Maybe it's just me, but "attack against weak passwords" seems like a perfectly cromulent use of the word 'hack'. In the "gain unauthorized access to a computer system" sense, anyway.

      --
      sic transit gloria mundi
    7. Re:Hacked? Uh huh, sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I should have to remember what BS answer I made up for that random website that one time because other people can't choose and remember strong passwords?

    8. Re:Hacked? Uh huh, sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My twitter account had a unique, randomly generated password that was longer than 16 characters and consisted of numbers, letters, and symbols, and someone changed my account password today.

    9. Re:Hacked? Uh huh, sure... by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The trick to those stupid security questions is just to put in a random string there is nothing that says it has to be the real answer. For example:
      Q: What was your first pet's name?
      A: Kd1hRuhe^bhNfyh*285kwlLojs5g0kaSjn

      --
      Time to offend someone
    10. Re:Hacked? Uh huh, sure... by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      Except it doesn't matter.

      Because, much like the DMCA made even incompetent security enshrined in law ... if you or I 'hacked' into someone's Twitter feed using these simple techniques, we would be facing serious criminal charges.

      Serious question, why shouldn't you?

      "Simple techniques" can be used to get through my locked front door, but guess what: it's illegal. And should be.

    11. Re:Hacked? Uh huh, sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You gotta be kidding me! What are the odds that we both named our iguanas Kd1hRuhe^bhNfyh*285kwlLojs5g0kaSjn? I guess I shouldn't use that answer anymore.

  12. Merciful? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful...

    You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

    1. Re:Merciful? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

      I think that it's 'merciful' in a slightly more Arabic variation of the "Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius." school of mercy.

    2. Re:Merciful? by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 2

      In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful...

      You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

      To be fair, they're saying God is merciful, not themselves.

    3. Re:Merciful? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Reminds of The Onion post Sep. 11th: http://www.theonion.com/articl...

      God Angrily Clarifies 'Don't Kill' Rule

      NEW YORKâ"Responding to recent events on Earth, God, the omniscient creator-deity worshipped by billions of followers of various faiths for more than 6,000 years, angrily clarified His longtime stance against humans killing each other Monday.

      "Look, I don't know, maybe I haven't made myself completely clear, so for the record, here it is again," said the Lord, His divine face betraying visible emotion during a press conference near the site of the fallen Twin Towers. "Somehow, people keep coming up with the idea that I want them to kill their neighbor. Well, I don't. And to be honest, I'm really getting sick and tired of it. Get it straight. Not only do I not want anybody to kill anyone, but I specifically commanded you not to, in really simple terms that anybody ought to be able to understand."

      Worshipped by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike, God said His name has been invoked countless times over the centuries as a reason to kill in what He called "an unending cycle of violence."

      "I don't care how holy somebody claims to be," God said. "If a person tells you it's My will that they kill someone, they're wrong. Got it? I don't care what religion you are, or who you think your enemy is, here it is one more time: No killing, in My name or anyone else's, ever again."

      The press conference came as a surprise to humankind, as God rarely intervenes in earthly affairs. As a matter of longstanding policy, He has traditionally left the task of interpreting His message and divine will to clerics, rabbis, priests, imams, and Biblical scholars. Theologians and laymen alike have been given the task of pondering His ineffable mysteries, deciding for themselves what to do as a matter of faith. His decision to manifest on the material plane was motivated by the deep sense of shock, outrage, and sorrow He felt over the Sept. 11 violence carried out in His name, and over its dire potential ramifications around the globe.

      "I tried to put it in the simplest possible terms for you people, so you'd get it straight, because I thought it was pretty important," said God, called Yahweh and Allah respectively in the Judaic and Muslim traditions. "I guess I figured I'd left no real room for confusion after putting it in a four-word sentence with one-syllable words, on the tablets I gave to Moses. How much more clear can I get?"

      "But somehow, it all gets twisted around and, next thing you know, somebody's spouting off some nonsense about, 'God says I have to kill this guy, God wants me to kill that guy, it's God's will,'" God continued. "It's not God's will, all right? News flash: 'God's will' equals 'Don't murder people.'"

      Worse yet, many of the worst violators claim that their actions are justified by passages in the Bible, Torah, and Qur'an.

      "To be honest, there's some contradictory stuff in there, okay?" God said. "So I can see how it could be pretty misleading. I admit itâ"My bad. I did My best to inspire them, but a lot of imperfect human agents have misinterpreted My message over the millennia. Frankly, much of the material that got in there is dogmatic, doctrinal bullshit. I turn My head for a second and, suddenly, all this stuff about homosexuality gets into Leviticus, and everybody thinks it's God's will to kill gays. It absolutely drives Me up the wall."

      God praised the overwhelming majority of His Muslim followers as "wonderful, pious people," calling the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks rare exceptions.

      "This whole medieval concept of the jihad, or holy war, had all but vanished from the Muslim world in, like, the 10th century, and with good reason," God said. "There's no such thing as a holy war, only unholy ones. The vast majority of Muslims in this world reject the murderous actions of these radical extremists, just like the vast majority of Christi

  13. Allah is Proud by enigma32 · · Score: 1

    It's always good when terrorist groups act like 13-year old haxxor boys.

    I hope their god is proud of them.

    1. Re:Allah is Proud by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's always good when terrorist groups act like 13-year old haxxor boys.

      I hope their god is proud of them.

      Yeah, joke's on them. Those script kiddies are the 72 virgins!

    2. Re:Allah is Proud by pitchpipe · · Score: 1

      It's always good when terrorist groups act like 13-year old haxxor boys.

      I hope their god is proud of them.

      Yeah, joke's on them. Those script kiddies are the 72 virgins!

      Somebody needs to write a musical called Seventy Two Virgins for Seventy Two Virgins!

      --
      Look where all this talking got us, baby.
  14. OOOOOOO! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Themz fightin words! Godda go bomb some of dem muslums. Twitta dat Jackahmed!

  15. Re:ISLAM IS THE CANCER by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The medical term is radiation treatment. Add a little chemo, and we should be able to wrap this up

  16. Meanwhile, waiting for Anonymous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    But where are the Charlie Hebdo cartoons Anonymous should be putting on IS' Twitter feed?

  17. Twitter and YouTube? by WillgasM · · Score: 1

    Does that mean they used to same password? If not, someone must have a keylogger on their system. That seems a bit more serious.

    1. Re:Twitter and YouTube? by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      Even if they did have a key logger I am wondering why their NIDS didn't detect the bad outbound traffic. Having worked in places that probably have just slightly lower security standards and a well defined set of traffic flows this is the ideal job of a properly set up NIDS. Now add in that a correct set of NIDS rules has a direct mapping to firewall rules (on the hosts and on the network firewall devices which they should have) and this should have been stopped.

      --
      Time to offend someone
  18. Re:This is all out WAR by Tokolosh · · Score: 1

    Just put a fence around the Middle East, sit back with a beer and enjoy the cage fight.

    --
    Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
  19. Re:This is all out WAR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, no.

    Atomic bombs are not good.

    Fill some bombers with pig carcases and drop them on their heads from high above. And put some C4 inside those pigs to ensure everything below is sprayed in a fine mist of pork blood, fat & gore. Also make sure all the pilots are Women.

    That would be worse than an Atomic bomb for any muslim.

  20. Double standards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I see people mocking this hacking of a twitter account by pro-ISIS people, but they cheer when Anonymous does the exact same thing. Anonymous "declares war", and then pro-ISIS hackers beat them to the punch. I find it amusing. Apparently their hackers are better than the script kiddies in Anonymous.

  21. In the name of Allah ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... we pray that this cancer can be eradicated, PERMANENTLY !!

    Captha: thankful

  22. Crap on weak passwords all you want. by hilather · · Score: 2

    It's still the shitty applications that don't enforce standard complexity requirements that play a role as well.

    1. Re:Crap on weak passwords all you want. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most of those "standard complexity requirements" enforce crappy passwords.

      At home, I have no such requirements. My password looks something like "ur7ae8oa". At work, we have the Windows server default requirements, that it has to contain a capital letter and numbers, and be simple enough that it won't take three months to learn, because we have to change it again by then. As a result, everybody have passwords that are exactly that: Starts with a capital letter, contains numbers, and so simple that you don't have to waste time learning it. Such as "January2015".

  23. FTFY by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    045EFB3B-3EC4-4D6D-99A5-E87E23AEE929

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  24. Re:This is all out WAR by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    Especially the Al Gore part.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  25. Inside job? by reboot246 · · Score: 1, Troll

    USA Today had this in their article:
    "A Twitter account from a group identifying itself as Anonymous said Monday it had tracked the source of the hack to Maryland, but that was not confirmed by official sources."

    Maryland? Isn't that where the NSA is based? No wonder "official sources" haven't confirmed it. Maybe the FBI can blame North Korea again.

  26. Why the &%#$@ does CENTCOM by jpellino · · Score: 2

    need a Twitter feed and a YouTube channel?

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
    1. Re:Why the &%#$@ does CENTCOM by gtall · · Score: 2

      Because social media is the new battleground. Where have you been the last 5 years?

    2. Re:Why the &%#$@ does CENTCOM by jpellino · · Score: 1

      Well, my stepson was fighting an actual battle on an actual battlefield, and it had nothing to do with posting to Twitter or Youtube.

      --
      "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
    3. Re:Why the &%#$@ does CENTCOM by Gryle · · Score: 1

      Your stepson is fighting what's called the "kinetic" fight. That's the part where guns, bigger guns, and a whole lot of ammunition and ordinance are pointed at the enemy. YouTube and Twitter are part of what's called the "non-kinetic" war, which is a fancy term for "propaganda battle" or "making the world think we're the good guys." And frankly, Islamic insurgent groups (IS/ISIS/ISIL in particular) are winning that war (at least in Iraq, Afghanistan, and a number of other predominately Muslim countries) through Twitter, YouTube, and other social networking sites. So back to your original question: CENTCOM has a Twitter account for public relations purposes. It pushes "the good news stories" and tries to make the US look like the good guy.

      --
      Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
  27. Why the fuck does CENTCOM have a twitter account!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seriously... why? I can see maybe the US Army or something having one (recruitment and other PR), but otherwise... WTF?

  28. If twitter has enough gravitas for CENTCOM... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... might I suggest a CENTCOM Webkinz account too? Or do you guys have that already?

  29. Military needs Twitter, Facebook, for: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Like the shooter in texas, to warn the base personnel, without air-raid sirens of what is going on. Yes it should be more secure to activate the system, but it is the fastest way to notify outside of sirens, pagers, and everyone carries a communication device. So is it their fault that the stateside attack done from inside the us, I believe the article I saw said Maryland, how come the security services haven't glassed that neighborhood? Surely they are no goods, there that need vaporization. But there may be some goods there, but no one wants to hear of them, right?

  30. #SorryForTheInconvenience by newbie_fantod · · Score: 2

    Why do they have a twitter account?
    An enemy of the U.S.A. has been detected in your building. Ordnance has been dispatched, You have 30s to evacuate your family. Thank you

    1. Re:#SorryForTheInconvenience by oobayly · · Score: 1

      You have 10 minutes to evacuate your family
      Your family has been wiped out
      Your family has been crushed into a cube
      You have 30 minutes to remove your cube

  31. alternate theory.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Based on some of the content - praising allah and ISIS - isn't it just as likely that it was posted at 0bama's sincere request?

  32. The sole fact that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I could even read the personnel information from CENTCOMs own twitter is a fuck up.

    Why hasn't a phone call been made to the relevant twitter personnel in the first minutes of this going up? Why aren't we going a step beyond and triple factoring all access?

  33. The old "Are you my grandson?" Twitter gag by kriston · · Score: 1

    This reminds me of the "Are you my grandson?" Twitter gag. Someone sent messages to hundreds of celebrities and media personalities stating things like, "Are you my grandson?" and "Where am I?" The account got tens of thousands of followers and mentions on the radio and in the media.

    Then, suddenly, one morning the user changed the name and picture and started tweeting jihadist propaganda.

    --

    Kriston

  34. Terrorists are PUSSIES by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They hit soft targets attacking the civilian populations that governments can't protect from an enemy that is too afraid to fight them face to face, so these terrorists think they can hit all the soft targets they want and it somehow hurts the governments. They could never be held to uphold any agreements or treaties because truth is not in them. There is no paradise for these cowards, only the darkest deepest bowels of hellfire burning their stripped blasphemous souls..