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US Military Surrenders To Social Media, Changes Access Restrictions
Thanks to a new policy by the Department of Defense, members of the US Military will now have limited access to social media sites. "According to the memorandum, members of military departments and all authorized users of the Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNET) can now use the publicly accessible capabilities of various social networking and user-generated content sites, instant messaging, forums, and e-mail. This includes YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and others. Access to porn, gambling, or hate crime sites will remain restricted, however, and commanders can cut down on social media use if they feel the need to 'preserve operations security.'"
I work at a government site. Sometimes, when I'm researching a JavaScript problem, or CSS problem, or browser bug, or some other problem, I get blocked by the fact that someone's tech blog is on a "social network or personal site". Fortunately, the same blocking software lets me proceed by certifying that the access is work-related. The military should have that same freedom for unclassified work.
That is a little over dramatic.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
Nobody is going onto slashdot and discussing operational information.
OTOH, it's really easy to go onto MyTwitBook and casually mention
where you are or where you're going and what you're doing there.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
RT @FirstSarge: Anybody see where that last round came from?
via TweetDeck
RT @Grunt88: Second hut on the left.
via TweetDeck
RT @sexxysela: Hai gaize! Du U want 2 partay wit me???LOL!!11!!
via TweetDeck
RT @FirstSarge: Clear the line, ma'am, please? We're taking fire here.
via TweetDeck
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
That's because Slashdot isn't blocked (at least, not on Air Force networks).
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
I never understood the need to block things like porn for the military. You get a bunch of guys together for months on end in a highly stressful condition. Porn would be one excellent way for them to release some steam, but no, they're not allowed to do that. So what are they supposed to do ? Go out, shoot some guys and rape their GFs ?!? I mean is this all it's really about, some kind of control via stress and basic sexual drives like in most wars of the past ? If it was just for me I'd airdrop a billion netbooks full of porn with free satellite access over the middle east.
Non-Linux Penguins ?
I remember when I was serving in Iraq (Nov '05 to Nov '06) Facebook was just getting big. MySpace was all the rage. People would upload some pictures and videos. In our unit, we didn't really have a policy although our Operations NCO kept a handle on our accounts (he didn't have access to them, but would just check them from time to time to make sure we weren't posting anything that violated opsec). Also, if we maintained a blog we gave him the URL. I didn't think it was a big deal and I understood the rationale. You don't want to post anything online that can:
a) Be taken out of context by the media or others (or if you want to be cynical, anything that can put the military in a bad light).
b) Anything that violates opsec and puts the success of the mission or personnel at risk
Not all of us had access to the NIPR net. Most of us just went to the Internet Cafe (really, a small trailer with a satellite internet connection), the MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation center), or pooled money to get internet access (2nd platoon pooled in money and set up a satellite dish and a modem, and then strung wires between the trailers). I'm not sure how effective this policy will be in these situations.
At the end of a drill weekend I'd usually be hanging out at the readiness NCO's office before I left and sometimes I'd forget I was using a military computer and try to log on to facebook only to see that it was blocked. Sometimes they blocked Gmail (but that seemed intermittent - I was able to get to it usually). Regarding the comment someone made earlier that the military should have a policy for requesting a site be unblocked, I believe it does. A buddy of mine works for the NGB's IT department (I forget the actual name) and he handles cases. It's very hard to get a site approved though unless you can demonstrate a legitimate use. It's not like writing code where you can find an example on some random dude's blog. The military has their own sites for resources, and anything you need to find can be looked up in a TM (Technical Manual) or an AR (Army Regulation), or DA PAM (Department of the Army Pamphlet), most of which are in digitized form.
Vivin Suresh Paliath
http://vivin.net
I like
As an active duty military systems administrator posting from a ship at sea, I welcome this change.
Being underway for months at a time with a 164kbps satellite connection split amongst fifty computers for over a hundred crew is rough enough on morale. Being able to see pictures of their wives and kids makes all the difference in the world.
Foolish people doing foolish things are always going to be the problem, not the engineering officer whose hooked on Farmville after the workday ends.
So long as it doesn't disrupt their effectiveness at work, I very much support this change.
When I was deployed to Iraq in '03 to early '05, I had to give up my IT job and go be a grunt for 18 months, and because I didn't have a MOS to prove my skills do some domineering douche E-6 admin, I got to convoy and do escort security. Being the convoy guy, you had access to the motor pool, so I'd get in a humvee once in awhile and do some war-driving on base with what little techie equipment I brought with me just for my own amusement. What amazed me what not only my findings themselves, but news that our officers in our unit would make the commo guys hook 802.11b/g routers up to NIPRnet (unsecured, mind you) so they could have free-range internet in their tents while the rest of us sucked it up in line for hours to get 5 minutes to write an e-mail and have some troll look over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't typing and "sensitive position information" in my e-mail (as if the Iraqi's don't know where all our bases is anyway! Isn't that why I got motor attacked twice a week?).
The point I'm trying to make is OPSEC in the military is a illusion and a joke and operate under the phrase "Do as I say, not as I do". The highest official is going to thrust down on the enlisted and preach being operationally secure, but it's the same guy who wanted NIRPnet broadcasted over an unsecure wifi router for 'convenience'.
that these rules serve to protect very sensitive information. It's not like protecting my personal photo album or someone sending annoying emails from my Facebook account to my address book ...
Social engineers can and will take advantage of the "human factor" within military networks if left to their own devices (i.e., social media retards). Listen, I was in the Marine Corps and although I loved my brothers in arms, not all of them were the brightest bulbs on the string.
Limited access with layers of approval is probably an appropriate model. However, when and where they feel it is necessary, the military should feel free to completely block without all the grief and criticism.
L'esperienza de questa dolce vita (The experience of this sweet life) - Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
"Facebook Suggestions:
Reconnect with Osama.
[Send him a cruise missile!]"
Wasn't blocked on Army either, at least a year ago. It was blocked on the school networks for "hacking" related info, however. Then again, bugs.mysql.com was blocked for security reasons too. "They can find out how to hack the server!"....uh, yea.
Don't click here...
We're talking about access from the NIPRNET, not the right of military members to use social networking sites, they could always do that.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons for preventing access to social networking sites among other things, from private networks.