12Jun US Army allows access to blogs and other Social Media
According to Federal Computer Week (http://fcw.com/articles/2009/06/11/army-social-media.aspx?s=fcwdaily_120609), the US Army has directed network managers across the country to stop blocking certain Web 2.0 sites, such as Flickr and Twitter. Photobucket, MySpace and Live365 are to be blocked.
The rationale, as reflected in the order, is that: “The intent of senior Army leaders to leverage social media as a medium to allow soldiers to ‘tell the Army story’ and to facilitate the dissemination of strategic, unclassified information, the social media sites available from the Army homepage will be made accessible from all campus area network.”
Many of us OPSEC’ers may have mixed feelings about this. While it is an opportunity to leverage emerging technologies and foster technical development within the military, there always remains the possibility of an inadvertent release of information.
But, at the same time, the reality is that it’s not the technology that’s the problem, and it’s certainly not going away. The problem lies within the users, and a relatively small number at that. The problem, to put it in it’s most basic terms, is not “what” the technology allows, but “how” it is used.
So, once again, it comes down to training. And with this recent order, it will be especially critical for all of you “Army OPSEC’ers” out there. Training and awareness are the two greatest tools in an OPSEC professional’s arsenal, and it’s the focus and dedication of each one of you that will keep OPSEC effective and relevant to today’s threats.
While unsung, you’re the last line of defense between your critical information and an adversary that wants it.
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June 14th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
This really might not be such a bad thing- it’s important to balance good OPSEC with freedom of speech!