THE NEWS WRAP: US Central Command’s social media accounts hacked

US Central Command’s social media pages have been hacked by a person or group claiming to be affiliated with ISIS.

The security organisation, which comes under the control of the US Department of Defense, had its Twitter and YouTube sites taken over for under an hour, with the Twitter page’s banner and logo replaced with an image with the words “CyberCaliphate” and “I love you ISIS”. A number of tweets were also sent from the account before it was suspended.

In a statement to Gizmodo, US Central Command said it could confirm both its Twitter and YouTube accounts were “compromised” earlier in the day.

“We are taking appropriate measures to address the matter,” the statement reads.

“We have no further information to provide at this time.”

At the time of publication, US Central Command’s Twitter account was still suspended.

Google’s search market share slides

Google’s share of the US internet search market has slipped to its lowest point since 2008, according to an independent analytics firm.

Fairfax reports that last month, Google was responsible for 75.2% of US online search referrals, down from 79.3% the previous year.

Google handled more than 90% of online search referrals in Australia last month, according to StatCounter.

Meanwhile Yahoo has clawed back some ground, growing from 7.4% to 10.4% over a 12 month period – its highest score since 2009. In Australia, Yahoo handled only 1.33% of search engine traffic.

Twitter in talks with Indian startup

Twitter is planning on making another acquisition, according to TechCrunch.

Sources have told the news site Twitter is in negotiations with ZipDial, an Indian mobile marketing startup.

Should the deal go ahead, it will be the latest in a string of Indian startups acquired by US companies wishing to capitalise on one of the biggest and fastest-growing markets in the world.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 54.33 points, rising 0.31% to 17,683.04. The Australian dollar is currently trading at US82 cents.