No indication of data breach in IS's "hit list" incident: White House

The White House said Monday there was no indication of data breach in the incident involving 100 U.S. service member's personal information being published on online by a group supportive of the extremist group the Islamic State, also known as IS or ISIL.

"We obviously take the safety and security of our military personnel very seriously. At this point, there is no indication that there was a data breach involved here," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest at a daily briefing. "It appears that the information that was distributed by ISIL is information that was freely available through social media on the Internet."

Personal information of 100 U.S. service members was posted online on Saturday by a previously unknown group which called itself the "Islamic State Hacking Division." The group said it got the names, addresses and photos of the 100 service members by hacking military database and called on its backers to kill those U.S. service members.

However, Pentagon officials had earlier said the information appeared to be drawn from public sources, including Facebook pages and media interviews.

U.S. Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson earlier warned that extremist groups, such as the IS, were effectively using social media to reach into communities in other countries and inspire independent actors to conduct violence.

"The administration has been in touch with the branches of the military to ensure that steps are taken to notify personnel, and the United States is working with the FBI, who is the lead investigator here, to determine the validity of any potential threats that may arise from this posting," Earnest said. Endite