IS posts Australian hit list after hacking addresses, mobile numbers
Justice Minister Michael Keenan has confirmed that the personal information of Australians was compromised in an Islamic State hack on Wednesday, as the terrorist group continues to urge attacks on those who were exposed. 
Mr Keenan did not say whether authorities had been aware eight Australians were compromised before Fairfax Media contacted them, but claimed that those who were exposed would have been protected if their safety was at risk.  
Most of those Australians on the list were unaware that their personal information - including their names, mobile phone numbers, email addresses, passwords and home suburbs - had been hacked by the terrorist group until they were contacted by Fairfax.
Despite the information being available online for about 10 hours - along with a message from a group calling themselves the Islamic State Hacking Division, which warned the group "will strike at your necks in your own lands" - the Australians, which included Defence employees and family members, a Victoria MP, and a former Army reservist, were kept in the dark by authorities.
Some of those on the database had still not been contacted by authorities at least three hours after Fairfax alerted authorities to the breach, but it is unclear if they have been contacted since.
Mr Keenan was not asked to clarify why the Australians on the list had not been contacted by authorities, but did imply authorities felt there was no risk to the safety of those hacked.
"Clearly if there was any physical risk to an Australian then we would take action immediately," Mr Keenan told Sky News.
"Obviously if we felt that anybody was at risk we would have made contact with them and made sure they were protected, and all Australians should be reassured about that."
Mr Keenan said it appeared the hack had targeted US government systems, but would not confirm why the Australians were listed on these databases.
"Our authorities, of course, are very good at protecting us in the online environment," he said.
"I want to assure all Australians we have the best intelligence and law enforcement communities in the world.
"They are out there, always vigilant, always protecting us, from what is the ever-present threat from this barbarous terrorist organisation."
Mr Keenan has been contacted for further comment.
The link to the database used by Fairfax Media on Wednesday afternoon was taken down overnight, but Islamic State militants have repeatedly tweeted fresh links to the site, which hosts details of more than 1400 people, most of them supposedly from the US armed forces.
Tweets with links to the database have been accompanied by messages such as "die in your rage kuffar [non-believer]" and "CIA fail, FBI fail." 
Professor Greg Barton, an expert in global Islamic politics at Deakin University, told the ABC the the IS group's use of private information was a concern.  
"In a climate of encouraging 'lone wolf' attacks ... it just increases the risk," he said.
"There are personal details being published online with a general call-out to target one of these people and do something and make a hero of yourself," he said.