“Fall” into an operations security (OPSEC) mindset this holiday season.

With seasons changing and holidays approaching, it’s easy to slip into complacency and forget OPSEC measures. It is easy to unintentionally share private information, and that’s why it’s important to actively practice OPSEC.

What is OPSEC? OPSEC is a security discipline designed to deny adversaries the ability to collect, analyze and exploit information that might provide an advantage against the United States by preventing inadvertent compromise of critical information. This is done through a process of continual assessment that identifies and analyzes critical information, vulnerabilities, risks and external threats.

In addition, OPSEC is a state of mind, a way of thinking that is used to protect the Army’s mission, personnel and resources. The purpose of OPSEC is simple: deny adversaries access to unclassified, critical and sensitive information.

  • Protected information includes:
  • Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)
  • Critical Information List (CIL)
  • Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
  • Any information covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Adversaries are actively after personal information, making OPSEC essential to personnel outside of work on personal social media accounts and when conducting other personal activities.

Other examples of critical information include:

  • Social Security numbers
  • Bank account numbers
  • Family member names and photos
  • Social media posts
  • Deployments, field exercises and special training dates
  • Departure and arrival times and dates
  • Home address
  • Unit information

Do you know what guidance measures you can take to protect sensitive and critical information from the adversary? It is important to familiarize yourself with and practice to protect critical information to include encryption, proper handling of information, confidentiality of times and locations, and proper computer usage.

Remember the importance of OPSEC. Don’t slip into complacency, instead, “fall” into an OPSEC mindset and remain vigilant.