IS 'hackers' urge US-based jihadis: 'Wipe yourselves out trying to kill 0.00005 of US forces'

One hundred supposed US military personnel have apparently been doxed in a propaganda release signed by the "Islamic State Hacking Division," which urges IS supporters in the USA to "kill them in their own lands, behead them in their own homes, stab them to death as they walk their streets thinking that they are safe".

A US defence official, speaking to Reuters at the weekend on condition of anonymity, stated "I can't confirm the validity of the information, but we are looking into it," adding that "we always encourage our personnel to exercise appropriate OPSEC (operations security) and force protection procedures".

This release of names, photographs, and addresses — supposing that all those named genuinely are US service personnel — affects less than 0.005 (the same as our non-percentage headline figure) of one per cent of the United States Armed Forces' 2,212,000 people.

The New York Times noted that, although the release came from self-described "hackers", the information revealed all appeared to be publicly available.

The paper reported that one "Defense Department official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said that most of the information could be found in public records, residential address search sites and social media".

The NYT added that the official believed the list appeared to be constructed from "the Defense Department’s own official reports on the campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL".

The self-described "Hacking Division" claimed that "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 in America can deal with you".

The Register understands that the personnel named are being informed in person. ®

[We here on The Reg terrorism desk would estimate that there aren't all that many IS/jihadi adherents in the USA whose commitment to the cause is strong enough to murder a possible US service person in cold blood: after all, there have only been a few such cases worldwide. Examples include the cases of Fusilier Rigby in London and Corporal Cirillo in Ottawa. In both those episodes the attackers were subsequently shot and are now dead or in prison, out of play in any event. This would seem like a typical result in any future cases; hence our headline. - Ed]