The following is a statement from the Counter Extremism Project regarding today’s hacking of the U.S. Central Command Twitter account:

“The brazen cyber-attack on the United States Central Command’s Twitter account today reveals both a gaping digital vulnerability and a modern-day extremist threat that must be addressed immediately. The United States and its allies can wait no longer for a comprehensive strategy to fight extremists’ unfettered abuse of social media platforms. The threat is now at the doorstep of our government. We in the private sector are working to stop this threat, but success will only be achieved with a sophisticated, public-private, bi-partisan coordination that offers complete command of the situation and a proactive effort to stop this type of terror. That is why CEP calls on the United States government to create a national cyber terrorism center – a single department whose focus is entirely on combatting this 21st century threat in the most impactful, aggressive way possible. The Counter Extremism Project will continue to work tirelessly to thwart the spread of extremist ideology on the internet, but we must now call on the government to ratchet up their commitment to the same cause.”

# # #

For requests for interviews, please contact CEP at [email protected].

About The Counter Extremism Project (CEP)

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) is a not-for-profit, non-partisan, international policy organization formed to combat the growing threat from extremist ideology. Led by a renowned group of former world leaders and former diplomats it will aim to combat extremism by pressuring financial support networks, countering the narrative of extremists and their online recruitment, and advocating for strong laws, policies and regulations.