The U.S. Marine Corps urged “vigilance” Sunday after a recent online threat by the Islamic State.
“Vigilance and force protection considerations remain a priority for commanders and their personnel,” U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel John Caldwell said in a statement. “It is recommended Marines and family members check their online/social footprint, ensuring privacy settings are adjusted to limit the amount of available personal information.”
However, Caldwell did say the threat was “unverified.”
On Saturday, a group calling itself the Islamic State Hacking Division posted the names, addresses, photos and ranks of 100 military personnel from the Air Force, Army and Navy, urging supporters to kill them, according to terrorist monitoring group SITE Intelligence.
However, a defense source told the New York Times most of the information is available in public records and was not posted after a hacking to government sources.
“With the huge amount of data we have from various different servers and databases, we have decided to leak 100 addresses so that our brothers residing in America can deal with you,” the Islamic State group wrote. “Now we have made it easy for you by giving you addresses, all you need to do is take the final step, so what are you waiting for?”
Though a defense department official could not confirm to AFP the validity of the information, they said they are investigating the online post.
“I can’t confirm the validity of the information, but we are looking into it,” the official said. “The safety of our service members is always a concern.”
This is not the first hacking of a U.S website by the terrorist group. For example, they hacked Centcom’s Twitter feed in January.
(h/t AFP)
