“We’re examining and investigating the extent of this incident.”
The hacked Twitter feed posted various documents, but officials said much of the information was openly available online.
The hackers appeared to have used screen shots on defense-related topics from other websites, giving the impression that they had stolen secret documents, officials said.
Some of the documents were labeled “FOU,” or for office use only, which refers to Defense Department documents that are not top secret or classified but usually treated as confidential.
Some PowerPoint slides related to North Korea and China were also posted, but there was no sign of classified information there.
One image showing North Korea’s nuclear facilities had appeared previously on the website of the Federation of American Scientists, a Washington-based non-profit organization dedicated to preventing nuclear war.
A similar digital disruption of social media accounts from local media outlets in the United States took place last week, The Washington Post reported.
Similar black-and-white images replaced the banners for the Albuquerque Journal in New Mexico and the WBOC television station in Maryland, it said.
US commanders and senior officials have previously said the IS group has shown a great acumen for propaganda and for promoting itself to potential jihadist recruits.
The US government has been preoccupied with another, more serious cyber attack on the Hollywood studio Sony Pictures, which suffered a massive data breach in late November.
Hackers stole and posted online information from Sony employees, unreleased films and a trove of emails between top company executives — some of them with embarrassing comments.
A group calling itself Guardians of Peace claimed credit for the attack and issued threats against Sony over the planned release of the comedy film “The Interview,” which depicts a fictional CIA plot to kill North Korea’s leader.
After an investigation, the FBI blamed North Korea for the attack and Washington has imposed fresh sanctions on Pyongyang over the intrusion.
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