U.S. Central Command is the branch of the U.S. Military that runs operations in Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, most notably Afghanistan and Iraq. Seeing as the US has been in that area for an extended period of time, I’m pretty sure that that they’ve made a few enemies. So perhaps one of them decided to try and exact some revenge by hacking or “Pwning” the Twitter account of Central Command. Here’s what CNBC had to say:
The Twitter account for U.S. Central Command was hacked on Monday, with pro-ISIS messages plastering the account’s profile.
The first message was posted at 12:29 p.m. ET, with the words “AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK. ISIS.” and the hashtag “#CyberCaliphate.”
The profile’s image was replaced with a photo that includes the text “i love you isis.” Just before 1 p.m. ET profile and banner images were reverted to their default.
Well that’s embarrassing. The FBI is investigating. But all this is is embarrassing. It’s not as if the people behind this pulled a Sony Pictures type of hack. So really, other than some embarrassing moments, there’s really nothing to see here. Though I would suggest that Central Command change the password of their social medial accounts before they get “Pwned” again.
Hackers Hit Health Insurer…. “Tens Of Millions” Of Records Stolen…. China Possibly Involved
Posted in Commentary with tags China, Hacked, US on February 6, 2015 by itnerdIf you’get your health insurance from Anthem who is one of the largest health insurers in the US, then you likely have something to worry about. According to The Wall Street Journal, they got hit by hackers on an epic scale:
Investigators are still determining the extent of the incursion, which was discovered last week, and Anthem said it is likely that “tens of millions” of records were stolen. The health insurer said the breach exposed names, birthdays, addresses and Social Security numbers but doesn’t appear to involve medical information or financial details such as credit-card or bank-account numbers, nor are there signs the data are being sold on the black market.
Anthem, which offers Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in California, New York and other states, said it doesn’t know precisely how many people may be affected. So far, it appears that the attack detected last week is the only breach of Anthem’s systems, and it isn’t yet clear how the hackers were able to obtain the identification information needed to access the database said Thomas Miller, the insurer’s chief information officer.
That’s just delightful. Affected customers will be contacted by Anthem. But what’s got my attention is this Bloomberg story that points the finger at China:
Technical details of the attack include “fingerprints” of a nation-state, according to two people familiar with the investigation, who said China is the early suspect.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation, according to Anthem, which has hired FireEye Inc., a Milpitas, California-based security company, to assist.
China has said in the past that it doesn’t conduct espionage through hacking. The Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
I personally would like to see proof of that as it’s really easy to point a finger at someone and say “they did it.” But let’s say that China is behind this. I’d like to know what the US government is doing to protect its citizens from state sponsored hacks like this? Assuming that they are doing anything at all of course.
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