US Marines ban Twitter, MySpace, Facebook

Wired Danger Room

The U.S. Marine Corps has banned Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social media sites from its networks, effective immediately.

“These internet sites in general are a proven haven for malicious actors and content and are particularly high risk due to information exposure, user generated content and targeting by adversaries,” reads a Marine Corps order, issued Monday. “The very nature of SNS [social network sites] creates a larger attack and exploitation window, exposes unnecessary information to adversaries and provides an easy conduit for information leakage that puts OPSEC [operational security], COMSEC [communications security], [and] personnel… at an elevated risk of compromise.”

071214-recon2

The Marines’ ban will last a year. It was drawn up in response to a late July warning from U.S. Strategic Command, which told the rest of the military it was considering a Defense Department-wide ban on the Web 2.0 sites, due to network security concerns. Scams, worms, and Trojans often spread unchecked throughout social media sites, passed along from one online friend to the next. “The mechanisms for social networking were never designed for security and filtering. They make it way too easy for people with bad intentions to push malicious code to unsuspecting users,” a Stratcom source told Danger Room.

Yet many within the Pentagon’s highest ranks find value in the Web 2.0 tools. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has 4,000 followers on Twitter. The Department of Defense is getting ready to unveil a new home page, packed with social media tools. The Army recently ordered all U.S. bases to provide access to Facebook. Top generals now blog from the battlefield.

“OPSEC is paramount. We will have procedures in place to deal with that,” Price Floyd, the Pentagon’s newly-appointed social media czar, told Danger Room. “What we can’t do is let security concerns trump doing business. We have to do business… We need to be everywhere men and women in uniform are and the public is. If that’s MySpace and YouTube, that’s where we need to be, too.”

The Marines say they will issue waivers to the Web 2.0 blockade, if a “mission critical need” can be proven. And they will continue to allow access to the military’s internal “SNS-like services.” But for most members of the Corps, access to the real, public social networks is now shut off for the next year.

Views: 124

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Tara on August 4, 2009 at 4:07pm
Can the military coexist with social networking sites?

The Pentagon announces that it will study how best to use sites such as Twitter and Facebook while protecting Defense Department computers and sensitive information.
Comment by Maas on August 4, 2009 at 11:34am
@ Patriot Horse

I think it's a good sign overall, but will it be enough? I don't know. I've heard a lot about Adam Kokesh, but I have to admit I'm not well read up on him.

@Tara

Good pointing that out; I didn't think about that.
Comment by Tara on August 4, 2009 at 11:30am
I guess that they are still allowed to use social networking sites in their personal lives, outside of the military, as far as I've read on this issue. They just can't use it while at work or in the line of duty.
Comment by Maas on August 4, 2009 at 10:51am
I think that the idea is for all the branches of military to have their own compartmentalized social networks. Of course the military embraces will use the popular social networks for recruiting and for the promotion of the official propaganda.
Comment by Inheritor From ConCen on August 4, 2009 at 10:38am
It would require courage, but I agree with you.

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

tjdavis posted a video

In 1994, He Exposed Their Entire System… and Predicted 2026 Perfectly. | Jordan Maxwell

In 1994, He Exposed Their Entire System… and Predicted 2026 Perfectly. | Jordan Maxwell#jordanmaxwell #knowledge #technology #history #facts✅ Explore Jordan ...
7 hours ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Halloween Story No. 4 “The Curse”

 Arnold Yates had spent 20 years in big city law enforcement. Ten years as a Cop and 10 years as an…See More
18 hours ago
tjdavis favorited cheeki kea's photo
yesterday
tjdavis posted a video

Rock Hudson - " Seconds " Trailer - 1966

Along "Giant" , "Seconds" remained one of Rock's favorite of his movies.The film was based on David Ely' s novel.Rock was finding himself pigeonhelded in co...
yesterday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Thursday
tjdavis posted a video

A Disturbing Pattern Happened Again... Explain This

#strange #video #strangevideos #scary #scaryvideos #creepy In this video we dig into strange, disturbing, and odd stories that sit just outside nor...
Thursday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Halloween Story Number Three- “They Came from the Sky!"

 Werner was from Westphalia, Germany-the Northwest Region. He had been in America for a few months…See More
Wednesday
Sandy posted a video

🚨 THEY SILENCED HIM! Barrie Jennings' SHOCKING 9/11 Testimony… Then He MYSTERIOUSLY DIED! (RIP)

‼️ WARNING: This Story Will Make You Question Everything…Barry Jennings was a key witness to the UNEXPLAINED explosions inside WTC Building 7 on 9/11—long be...
Tuesday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

message approved

"Yip damn right. t"
Tuesday
cheeki kea posted a photo
Tuesday
cheeki kea favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Fantasy Clown World I Wake Up to Everyday
Tuesday
tjdavis posted a video

NAZA Official Trailer | Mongrel Media

The trailer for NAZA, a new documentary from Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, two of the Oscar®-winning filmmakers behind NO OTHER LAND.Shot at night on the ro...
Oct 17
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Oct 17
Sandy posted a video

Pentagon's LifeLog vs. Facebook: Same Day Shutdown? #shorts

LifeLog, the Pentagon's ambitious data collection program, was shut down by DARPA on February 4th, 2004. Coincidentally, Facebook was registered as a busines...
Oct 16
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Fantasy Clown World I Wake Up to Everyday

 I never could have seen this coming before I was awakened by all the BS that I became aware of…See More
Oct 15
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Why Was the Movie “The Bedford Incident” Such a Threat?

 With wars looming in the Middle East and Vladimir Putin making more threats of using nuclear…See More
Oct 14
Doc Vega posted a blog post
Oct 13
tjdavis posted videos
Oct 12
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

Oil News ( not good )

"~ Amendment. New hope on the horizon. Quick updates. Diesel sanctions on Russia Lifted ! by…"
Oct 10
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Death Doll-Halloween Story Two

 Retired Major Lionel Eldridge was browsing items in a bazaar of relics, antiques, and curios when…See More
Oct 9

© 2026   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted