The "good" news? It was USCENTCOM's social media accounts, so we're (hopefully) not talking any military secrets. The bad news? The "cyber-Caliphate" took a haul of personal information about the families of U.S. military personnel just to make those of the latter that haven't been ousted, discharged, or forcibly anally buggered that much more warm & fuzzy:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the CyberCaliphate under the auspices of ISIS continues its CyberJihad. While the US and its satellites kill our brothers in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan we broke into your networks and personal devices and know everything about you. You’ll see no mercy infidels. ISIS is already here, we are in your PCs, in each military base. With Allah’s permission we are in CENTCOM now. We won’t stop! We know everything about you, your wives and children. U.S. solders! We’re watching you!
There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet! There is no law but Sharia!”
Stereotypical jihadist bluster? Sounds like it. Is it justified? Hell, yeah. They proved they could do it by doing it. All other things being equal, if you were a soldier or sailor or airman or Marine and you knew that the enemy knew where your family lives, all their names, their living patterns, where your kids go to school, etc., how eager would you be to fight ISIS? Especially given that you know your Commander-in-Chief embraces the jihad and won't do anything to protect your loved ones? All it would take is one U.S. serviceperson's family perishing in flames or a hail of bullets - or their terrified and filmed beheadings - to send that message and spread that fear throughout the U.S. armed forces, and throughout the U.S. in general.
Would that arouse the American people to regain an appetite for and demand retribution? Sure it would. Would Barack Obama heed it? Hell, no. That would be more "proof" to him of how "backward" and "Islamophobic" America is and how much more "fundamental transformation" remains to be forcibly implemented, and how many more additional terms he needs to accomplish it.
Here was White House spokesjerk Josh Earnest irritably downplaying the second foreign cyberattack in a month:
The official Twitter and YouTube accounts for the U.S. Central Command was hacked by a group that pledges allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
CENTCOM has currently suspended its Twitter account following the hack.
The hackers released contact information of dozens of military personnel. They also released information related to China and Korean scenarios.
A Pentagon official told Reuters that “CENTCOM is taking appropriate measure to address the matter.”
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that they are looking into the hack.
“I can tell you this is something that we’re obviously looking into and something we take seriously. However, just a note of caution to folks as they’re covering this story, there is a pretty significant difference between what is a large data breach and the hacking of a Twitter account. So we’re still examining and investigating the extent of this incident, but I don’t have any information beyond that for you,” Earnest told reporters.
The only thing that persuades me that ISIS hasn't totally penentrated USCENTCOM's computer network is their inclination to conspicuously celebrate every "blow against the infidels" they strike. But the 9/11 plot amply demonstrated that jihadists are more than capable of discretion in the carrying out of a major operation. So perhaps this hacking of military Twitter and Facebook accounts is a feint as distraction for a more serious cyberbreach. And if they can penetrate our military networks, how difficult would it be for them, or the NoKos, or the Russians, or the ChiComms, to remotely sabotage our civilian infrastructure - hydroelectric dams, nuclear power plants, sewage treatment facilities, hospitals, the electical grid?
One thing is certain: The enemies have absolutely no hesitation or fear of doing so. That product of robust deterrance - the doubt that an enemy can attack the U.S. without suffering significant retaliation - has been irretrievably lost, and can only be regained at great, destablizing cost. One in which Barack Obama will never be willing to "invest".
We're reaping the whirlwind of 2008 and 2012, folks. And we haven't seen anything yet.
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