Preventing Personnel from Undermining Force Stability When Using Social Media

There have been many lessons about people saying too much of the wrong thing in a social media post, and the information in that post being used by an adversary to do harm. It is essential that all people assigned to military responsibilities be trained in using social media applications for their personal use in a manner that does not compromise operations security. There should also be policies in place by military organizations regarding the personal use of social media applications.

The United States Army Social Media Handbook provides guidance on how members of the military should use social media applications and some of the things they should be cautious about when using social media. A culture of security should be established in which security pervades every aspect of daily life and the use of social media, not just while deployed. This is especially relevant when protecting operations security. The United States Army Social Media Handbook brings to light several important issues:

• ? The importance of establishing social media policies that specify who in an organization is responsible for social media operations and when, why, where, and how social media can be used on behalf of an organization.
• ? Methods of identifying security threats, such as imposter social media accounts, and what to do to avoid these accounts, how and whom to report these accounts.
• ? How to identify scams, what to do to avoid getting taken in by a scam, and how and whom to report the scams.
• ? How to maintain security of official U.S. Army social media accounts and pages, including assignment of responsibilities, content management and control, protecting sensitive information, monitoring, and security vigilance.

It is also very important that military members be well indoctrinated on security awareness when it comes to using social media applications for personal use. It is also important to train military family members in how to maintain security when they are using social media applications for personal use. This is very relevant to protecting operations security. The United States Army Social Media Handbook raises several other important issues:

• ? Members should not post any information that reveals where they are stationed or where they work.
• ? Members should not post any information that reveals where they are being reassigned to or any details about where they will work in the future.
• ? Members should not post any information that reveals what kind of work they do.
• ? Members should not post any information that reveals anything about their coworkers’ locations or job responsibilities.
• ? Members should be cautious when posting photos because many photos taken with digital devices have geotagging features that reveal the location where the photo was taken; this is visible when posted on certain social media platforms, thus providing adversaries with actionable intelligence.