Pentagon issues new policy on social networking

[cathryn]

Pentagon issues new policy on social networking
By PAULINE JELINEK
AP
posted: 6:31 PM 02/26/10
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WASHINGTON -Everyone from troops in the field to the highest brass and civilian leaders will be allowed to Twitter, blog and use Facebook and other social networking sites on the military's non-classified computer network, the Pentagon announced Friday.

The new policy follows a seven-month review in which the Defense Department weighed the threats and benefits of allowing the wide use of emerging Internet capabilities. It essentially seeks to manage the risks while acknowledging the Internet is proving a powerful tool for a myriad of tasks including recruiting, public relations, collaboration with a wide range of people and for communications between troops and their families.

To guard security, it allows commanders to cut off access â€" on a temporary basis only â€" if that's required to safeguard a mission or reserve bandwidth for official use. The new directive also makes practices uniform across the entire department, in which different commands previously blocked certain things while others didn't. Visiting sites for pornography, gambling or hate-crime activities is still prohibited on military computers.

"We need to take advantage of these capabilities that are out there â€" this Web 2.0 phenomena," said David M. Wennergren, deputy assistant secretary of defense for information technology. "The idea is be responsible and use these tools to help get the job done."

The new directive means that YouTube, MySpace and more than a dozen sites blocked by the Pentagon in May 2007 will be unblocked, he said. The Pentagon said at the time that the use of video sites in particular was straining its network and using too much of its bandwidth. But Wennergren said Friday that the move failed to stem the use of bandwidth because people just went to alternate sites.

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http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/facebook-embarrassments-crop-up-everywhere/19382850?icid=main|htmlws-main

i didnt think that it was a good idea.

if it could happen anywhere it could happen here.

Facebook Embarrassments Crop Up EverywhereUpdated: Theunis Bates
Contributor

AOL News (March 4) -- Last week, the U.S. military announced it would start allowing troops in the field to use social networking services like Twitter. But the latest demonstration of how such sites can blast confidential information into the public sphere came on Wednesday, when the Israeli army announced it had booted out a soldier who revealed details of an upcoming raid on Facebook.

The soldier, from an elite unit of the Artillery Corps, announced on his Facebook page that, "On Wednesday, we are cleaning out [a West Bank village] -- today an arrest operation, tomorrow an arrest operation and then, please God, home by Thursday."

Other members of the unit, who were also his Facebook friends (but might not be anymore), saw the leak and alerted officers. They scrapped the operation out of fear that Web-savvy enemies might have seen the post. The soldier was court-martialed, sentenced to 10 days in jail and kicked out of the battalion.

Israeli forces have now promised to crack down on use of social media sites, and launched a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of sharing secrets online. "Uploading classified information to social networks or any Web site exposes the information to anyone who wishes to view it, including foreign and hostile intelligence services," the military said in a statement. "Hostile intelligence agents scan the Internet with an eye toward collecting information on the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), which may undermine operational success and imperil IDF forces."

The soldier is just the latest in a long line of hapless Web users who've committed costly Facebook faux pas or acted like twerps on Twitter. Here's a rundown of six of the greatest social media screw-ups:

THE SPY BOSS: Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (also known as MI6) traditionally keeps schtum about its operatives' identities. So British newspapers were outraged last summer when the wife of spy chief Sir John Sawers posted pictures of her husband, their children and chums on Facebook. The biggest state secrets revealed online? Sawers enjoys a game of beach Frisbee and wears blue Speedos.

THE SPEECHWRITER: In December 2008, photos of Jon Favreau -- the man behind Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" campaign slogan -- drunkenly groping a cardboard cutout of Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on his Facebook page. The pictures were pulled two hours later, and Favreau offered an apology to the soon-to-be secretary of state.

THE ACADEMIC: Gloria Gadsden, a sociology professor at Pennsylvania's East Stroudsburg University, was put on indefinite leave this week after implying online that she wanted to slaughter annoying students. She said that her Facebook status updates -- which read, "Does anyone know where I can find a very discrete hitman? Yes, it's been that kind of day" and "Had a good day today. DIDN'T want to kill even one student" -- weren't supposed to be taken seriously. Her bosses didn't see the funny side.

THE WEATHERMAN: After being summoned for jury duty, NBC's Al Roker broke court rules by snapping photos of potential jurors with his iPhone and sharing them with the world via Twitter. Showered with criticism, Roker defended himself saying, "I'm not breaking laws ... just trying to share the experience of jury duty. ... So folks need to lighten up."

THE EMPLOYEE: A British Facebooker known only as "Lindsay" savaged her boss in a status update, writing: "OMG, I HATE MY JOB! My boss is a total pervvy wanker always making me do s*** stuff." Unfortunately, she'd forgotten the boss was one of her Facebook friends. And that she only had two weeks of her six-month trial period left. Lindsay was soon searching for another job.

THE CRIMINAL: An Italian burglar decided to check his Facebook account -- and post entries on his wall -- when he encountered a computer while robbing a house near Rome. The net-addicted criminal forgot to log out, allowing police to quickly trace and arrest him.


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