The newly renamed Department of War has publicly posted the stream keys of its Facebook, X, and YouTube channels for years, potentially allowing hackers to hijack its official social media accounts and broadcast whatever they want.

A stream key is like an account password for livestreaming content on social media. Before a stream goes live on a user’s social media account, they must input a stream key into their broadcast software of choice.

Google, which owns YouTube, describes stream keys as being akin to “your YouTube stream’s password and address.” Facebook tells streamers “Don’t share your stream key. Anyone who has access to it can stream video from your page.”

The Department of War, however, routinely posts stream keys on its Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (

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