On Tuesday morning (Feb.10), Newsweek‘s Twitter account was hacked by a group claiming to be associated with the Islamic State (ISIS) who call themselves Cyber Caliphate. The group took over the account at 10:45 a.m. and changed the publication’s background and profile picture to a pro-ISIS image. Within the 14-minute time span of the hack, they tweeted out documents that detailed “Pentagon warfare in social networks” and released the phone and social security numbers for the employees of the Department of Defense. Their tweets contained threats to President Barack Obama and his family stating, “Bloody Valentine’s Day #MichelleObama! We’re watching you, you girls and your husband! #CyberCaliphate.”
We’re back on Twitter after being hacked: http://t.co/Ib1pfgN3PC
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 10, 2015
By 10:59 a.m., the hack was resolved and Newsweek‘s managing editor then posted a public apology explaining what happened, “We can confirm that Newsweek‘s Twitter account was hacked this morning, and have since regained control of the account…We apologize to our readers for anything offensive that might have been sent from our account during that period, and are working too strengthen our newsroom security measures going forward.” The FBI is investigating the matter, especially the threats against President Obama and his family. This was not their first appearance either. The pro-ISIS group had also hacked Malaysia Airlines, disabling the airline’s ticket booking service and changing the banner to “ISIS WILL PREVAIL.” Cyber Caliphate was also responsible for hacking Taylor Swift’s and Centcom’s official Twitter accounts. Centcom’s account is the account of the United States Central Command. International Business Times‘ website was hacked by what appeared to be the same group on Tuesday morning, as well as a subsidiary Newsweek Tumblr account and the official Twitter account of Latin Times. All share a parent company, IBT Media. Photo Credit: Getty Images