ISIS Released a “Kill List” of U.S. Armed Forces Members – Truth!
Summary of eRumor:
The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has released a “kill list” with the names, photos and home addresses of military personnel who participated in attacks against IS.
The Truth:
This one is true.
The kill list was released by a branch of the IS terrorist group (also known as ISIS and ISIL) that identified itself as the Islamic State Hacking Division in mid-March of 2015. The list had names, photos and home addresses of 100 military members, and it encouraged IS supporters to kill them on U.S. soil, Marine Corps Times reports.
The Pentagon said that each military member on the list had been notified and was encouraged to “tighten up” their online privacy settings and social media accounts, NBC News reports.
Authorities in Flagler County, Florida, were on alert after the FBI notified them that a number of the people on the so-called kill list lived in the area. Sheriff James Manfre said he had ordered extra patrols, WJXT Jacksonville reports:
“I mean this is startling information to have and obviously they are concerned about their loved ones but again, we do not see it as a credible threat. We do not want to allow ISIS to spread terror in our community, yet we are going to make sure that we remain vigilant and let them understand that you fight one of us, you fight all of us,” Manfre said.
Now, the biggest question is how IS supporters were able to get the names, photos and home addresses of military personnel that took part in attacks against the terrorist group.
Admiral Cecil Haney, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, was asked during a press briefing whether IS had the ability to launch cyber attacks to get that information, Haney answered:
“Well, I think you have seen our outfits, like IS and ISIL, various other organizations, as you look at the list of different cyber activities that have occurred. And clearly in the case of that group, being able to use it to recruit, use cyber to threaten and those kind of things —- so we see more and more sophistication associated with that.
“This is something that we look at very, very closely. U.S. Cyber Command as well as our interagency team are working this piece. And, quite frankly, it is looked at on a day-to-day basis.
“ I would just say, you know, they were — wherever they got that information, it didn’t come from Department of Defense’s networks, quite frankly. It’s unfortunate. And, quite frankly, the safety and welfare of the joint military forces and particularly the people I lead is very important, going forward.
“So we do have a campaign where we practice and train on operational security, but not just with the members, but also alert the families, in terms of this business of using social media.”
NBC News reports that IS may have gotten the information from public websites, not through cyber attacks. Pentagon public affairs websites reportedly posted the names and photos of 66 of the people on the list with job descriptions like “bomb squadron commander.”