FORT BENNING, Ga., (Oct. 22, 2014) -- Today's social media sites make sharing details of daily life seamless, but the ease of accessing this information could be harmful for those unaware of how to protect their sensitive information.
"There is a lot of unclassified information that is sensitive," said Capt. Donald Minchew, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team's Information Operations coordinator. Sensitive information could be anything from a Social Security number to specific Soldier deployment dates, Minchew said.
Soldiers receive Operations Security Level 1 training to prevent sharing critical information, but Kent Grosshans, Manuever Center of Excellence's Operations Security officer, emphasized the importance of sharing this knowledge with Family members.
"We have moved into a generation that loves to share information," Grosshans said. "There's nothing wrong with that, but you have to know what is your critical information; that is basically what we want to protect."
A critical information list is information the military does not want to get out to an adversary. Grosshans suggested that Families have their own critical information lists as well.
"The more measures that you can put in place, the less risk you are going to have," Grosshans said.
Taking precautions when sharing secure information with questionable sources should come as second nature, but with a generation sharing everything from photos of breakfast to location-specific weekend plans, more and more measures need to be taken.
Minchew explained a need for balance in sharing information through social media. Generic, informative posts could be acceptable until classified information enters the mix. He said a Soldier could announce to their friends and Family their anticipation of deployment, which is fine, but when time, date and location specifics are shared, suddenly the mission is compromised as an adversary could wrongfully use the information.
"An adversary could be anybody," Minchew said. "It could be a foreign-nation state, an insurgent group, a terrorist organization, cyber criminals, identity thieves or a pedophile down the street who wants to know things about your kids. Protecting your personal information can be almost as important as protecting your unit's critical information."
A few tips to protect sensitive information include checking security settings on social media sites such as Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter, sharing sensitive information with Family members over the phone rather than posting online and telling Family members if they post personal information online the information is not secure.
"With social media, before you post, look at it from a different perspective," Grosshans said. "Whatever you post, not everyone is going to see it the same way you do."
Alternatively, watching the friends added on Facebook, taking note of followers on Twitter and being conservative of connections made on LinkedIn will help in monitoring who sees posts and information on social media sites.
Grosshans recommended Soldiers Google their name to ensure that fake profiles do not exist and to see what is already out in social media about them. This would not work well for those with common names, however.
Despite the training received, it is often due to negligence an Operations Security compromise arises.
"Soldiers know, and Soldiers are held accountable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for stuff they post online," Grosshans said. He used an example of a Soldier posting a picture of battlefield damage. "Their intent is probably not malicious or anything, but what they are doing is they are telling the adversary what the limits and capabilities are of our equipment."
As technology advances, Soldiers and their Families need to monitor what they post. The Army's Operations Security Facebook page is designed to educate Soldiers, civilians and others.
Additionally, information can be found at the U.S. Army Slideshare page at www.slideshare.net/usarmysocialmedia.
Social Sharing