'Islamic State cybervandalism': CENTCOM Twitter, YouTube accounts restored

Feed displayed several messages from hackers, one of which told American soldiers to 'watch your back'

WASHINGTON: The earlier compromised Twitter and YouTube accounts of the US Central Command (Centcom) have been restored and are back online, their Twitter account revealed Wednesday. 

We're back! CENTCOM temporarily suspended its Twitter account after an act of cybervandalism. Read more: http://t.co/hiwvSp3uWt

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 13, 2015

On Monday 12, the accounts were apparently hacked by persons claiming allegiance to the Islamic State, The Washington Post had reported.

The accounts were eventually taken offline after the feed displayed several messages from the hackers, one of which told American soldiers to "watch your back."

"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the CyberCaliphate continues its CyberJihad," the Centcom Twitter feed continued.

A Centcom spokesperson had confirmed that their accounts were “compromised,” and said later that the accounts were taken offline while the incident is investigated more.

Centcom, in their press release confirmed that their accounts had been compromised for approximately 30 minutes adding however, that there was no operational impact to US Central Command.

Additionally, they said they were notifying appropriate DoD and law enforcement authorities about the potential release of personally identifiable information and would take appropriate steps to ensure any individuals potentially affected are notified as quickly as possible.