US Military Surrenders To Social Media, Changes Access Restrictions 96
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.'"
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Yea, because giving members of the military access to social networking sites is really going to increase the risk of security breaches. It was better when we kept all military personnel in an off-grid facility in the middle of the desert with no cellphones and a ban on using fire in case they sent smoke signals to the nearest town.
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It's not an either or proposition, we have e-mail access to most web sites now. The bottleneck for most people in the field and on ships is bandwidth, not access.
What's driving this is the mid-to-high level chain of command, who has this fantasy that the next war is going to be fought over the Internet and we'd better not miss out, and don't understand the underlying security issues AT ALL.
And yes, being able to see what unit Johnny is in and who his friends are is a huge security risk. Now I can send him
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And yes, being able to see what unit Johnny is in and who his friends are is a huge security risk. Now I can send him phishing emails with malicious attachments that appear to be from his wife, and all I have to do is look on Facebook.
It's worse than that. Accessing the Internet alone, regardless of what content you'll be accessing, is a security risk in itself - after a while of observation, Internet access habits can be quite valuable intel, as it shows at which time somebody's off-duty, which might lead to the enemy figuring out patrol rotations etc etc.
No, denying soldiers regular access to the Internet while deployed is definitely a good thing.
Re:Ugggh (Score:4, Informative)
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.
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Only one (Score:1)
Likewise, there are at least one legitimate reason for allowing access to pr0n.
I sense a disturbance in the Force. As if thousands of military sung:
The Internet is for Porn!
Re:Status update (Score:5, Funny)
"Facebook Suggestions:
Reconnect with Osama.
[Send him a cruise missile!]"
No Slashdot? (Score:2)
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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.
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The recent article about GPS games needs to be updated with a new one: Battleship with real ships! It's far more fun if you know people are actually dying!
Re:No Slashdot? (Score:5, Informative)
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The first rule of Fight Club: (Score:2)
This makes sense (Score:3, Insightful)
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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.
Heh. Yeah, that will work. "Yeah, Sarge, I swear ... I need this midget-bestiality-bukkake in order to fulfill a mission requirement!"
I don't think people understand (Score:2, Informative)
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 approva
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US Military Surrenders? (Score:5, Insightful)
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I was just about to post this. Can we please, please stop with the needless scandalization of otherwise mundane news? This is a change in access policy, nothing more.
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No, it's true. Save the women and children! The French are attacking! The French are attacking!
Red in a Chrchill voice (Score:1)
Jokes about French military ineptitude may not be the end of trolls. They may be the beginning of the end of flamebait. They may even, in certain crcumstances, be the end of the beginning of offtopic.
But they sure as hell are not the end of the beginning of redundant.
Re: US Military Surrenders? (Score:5, Funny)
Sorry, US millitary Overthrew their previous regime of regulations...
Oh, wait..
US Military exploded onto the front page of tech news sites today...
damn..
the US millitary didn't ask, and won't tell what its facebook policies are...
wow.. its just too easy...
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But thankfully that headline was hard to believe, because the US military is the sort that won't surrender even if they've completely lost. Now, if the headline had said that the French military surrendered ...
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You mean the military that went on to give rise to guys like these [wikipedia.org]? The one that lost more men then the United States army did in the whole of the war?
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Apparently both you and the mods don't know a non-serious post when you see one.
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No my friend....
This is SLASHDOT!!!!!!!
Cut me a break, it's the end of a very long Monday...
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But it's exactly what happened. The military's "surrendering" because they've lost the battle -- they let social media get so far ahead of them that public affairs offices can't do their jobs. What do you tell the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs when your "network security" policies keep him from communicating with his troops in the manner of his choosing? What do you tell the grunt on the ground who can't get to his base's "official" Facebook page for no other reason than, "Well, those are the rules."
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What do you tell the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs when your "network security" policies keep him from communicating with his troops in the manner of his choosing?
It's our GD military, and he should be communicating through official messaging systems, over trusted communications channels, or in person, sir.
What do you tell the grunt on the ground who can't get to his base's "official" Facebook page for no other reason than, "Well, those are the rules."
Yah, a grunt would look for a base's "official" facebook page, wouldn't he? Probably run any little activex/flash/java/click yes to all prompts etc too. POG here.. ;)
"Well, those are the rules."
That is EXACTLY what you say, ESPECIALLY to a grunt! Same silly answer I got for "Why do I have to wear a collared shirt, belt, and socks with shorts and open sandals?" You deal with that crap i
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I'm reaching stratospheric levels of dweebiness here, but when I read it I suddenly remembered a Star Trek scene:
Worf: Very well... Room service.
Dax: Really?
Worf: Really.
Dax: Oh, that was easy.
Worf: Did you want to fight over it?
Dax: No, it's just, I didn't expect you to surrender so quickly.
Worf: Surrender?
Dax: Bad word.
Worf: Very bad.
Source: [imdb.com]
Fun times ahead (Score:5, Funny)
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
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I half expected the last line to be:
RT @sexxysela: For the last time, we have telephones. Stop using your service rifle to get my attention.
via TweetDeck
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I know you were joking, but this is not far from the truth. In Afghanistan the U.S. Army uses IRC (specifically, mIRC clients on Toshiba Toughbooks) over SIPRNET (the military's encrypted/secured IP network) to allow remote FOBs (Forward Operating Bases) to communicate more easily and clearly. Text is especially advantageous for FOB-FOB communication during firefights because unlike radio, multiple parties can communicate effectively at the same time, plus messages come through clearly and without error or
Blocking prOn ? (Score:5, Insightful)
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According to Kate Adie, the British Army, at least, had a magnificent porn collection in the Gulf War. They just took it with them and didn't need the internet to download it. She was commenting on The Sun newspaper trying to get kudos for sending cheesy girlie pics to "our boys" when the said boys had stacks of the heavy stuff.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Order_No._1
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Probably the same reason as most other networks can't handle it - sheer bandwidth that people will be using. Start browsing a social networking site? Not huge bandwidth in general. Start downloading porn? People can go crazy with bandwidth usage! It'll all be limited out in the field, and why should the government pay for it on base?
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I never understood the need to block things like porn for the military.
It's not so much the porn that needs to be blocked. It's the malware and the like that comes with many porn sites that needs to be blocked.
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You're not thinking big enough - I'd airdrop hookers. Some companies do approve of such expenses for people in the field, so why not the military?
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I'd airdrop hookers.
And that'd still be more cost efficient than Blackwater mercenaries...
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The modern Army is a highly professional organization. There's no need for porn. Plus, some people can actually control themselves.
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This makes sense (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Online ARs - I pity the modern Army (Score:2)
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don't worry apple will introduce a $299 extra soft case accessory for the ipad that will make it every better than a text book for sleeping.
your choice of colors include seafoam green, cloud white, sun star yellow, morning sun orange, and hot pink.
A positive change (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
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Where were you stationed in Iraq? I was at Camp Liberty.
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Wow, that must've sucked - moving a lot! Most of the main body and ops stayed on at Camp Liberty throughout the tour. I was in the IZ initially (FOB Union III) for about two weeks. After that I came back to Liberty and stayed there for the rest of the tour. We had two platoons go up north to Ramadi during the middle of the tour.
Are you Active Army? Reserves? National Guard? Or Marines?
Re:no OPSEC here! (Score:5, Interesting)
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You can also send registered mail home to discuss these things, although that's probably up to your CO.
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Was already slow enough during business hours (Score:1)
I work in a mission critical (yeah, not really so much, it's weather) field on an Army post. The network is already pretty much unusable during the 7am, noon, and 3pm rushes without youtube.
Luckily being associated with spoiled chil.. pilots we have a non-government cable drop in the office.
Still no email! (Score:2)
Great. I can hop on Facebook and chatter away with the world, but I still can't load Gmail to email my wife.
Fucking brilliant.
How long before... (Score:2)
How long will it be before the first tweet is posted with GPS co-ordinates that give away an important location or mission?
Forget the "rob my house" Twitter app, now the 'bad guys' can set up a "where are they attacking from" Twitter app!