RSSU.S. Marine Corps bans social networks
By Tim Conneally | Published August 4, 2009, 2:40 PM
Claiming that sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter pose a "haven for malicious actors and content," the United States Marine Corps has instituted an immediate ban on social networking sites for soldiers and officers using the Marines' internal network.
According to a notification issued yesterday, the Marine Corps says social networking sites put the military at risk of "information exposure, user generated content and targeting by adversaries" and that they "expose unnecessary information to adversaries and provides an easy conduit for information leakage that puts [Operational Security], [communications security], personnel, and [The Marine Corps Enterprise Network] at an elevated risk of compromise."
The ban follows the Department of Defense's investigation into the use of social media, which tested their potential to unnecessarily consume bandwidth or reveal secret information.
Ironically, the Department of Defense's site uses social media extensively, with its own Facebook page, Flickr photostream, and Twitter feed.
And we also have a para-military organization of sorts doing the very same thing:
The N.F.L. Has Identified the Enemy and It Is Twitter
To the list of universal threats to football success — injury and indiscretion, a Tom Brady-led offense marching against your defense — the N.F.L. has added another: Twitter.
As training camps opened last week, players were told that the same standard — read: paranoia — that applied to the flow of information to reporters also applied to Twitter. In Green Bay, players were told they would be fined if they texted or tweeted from team meetings or coaching sessions.
When Coach Tony Sparano met with the Miami Dolphins before Sunday’s first practice, he effectively outlawed Twitter, nose tackle Jason Ferguson said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2...cp=5&sq=&st=nyt
AND...
CHARGER FINED FOR TWEET Gary Wichard, the agent for cornerback Antonio Cromartie, confirmed that the San Diego Chargers fined his client $2,500 for using Twitter to complain about the food at training camp. The offending tweet apparently equated the food quality with the Chargers’ failure to reach the Super Bowl in recent seasons.
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|Looks like there may be a trend brewing...
"ESPN Limits Social Networking"
Soon after ESPN issued 12 guidelines to its employees about social networking on Tuesday, Ric Bucher, one of its N.B.A. writers and analysts, wrote on Twitter, “The hammer just came down, tweeps: ESPN memo prohibiting tweeting info unless it serves ESPN.”
He then added, “My guess is I can still tweet about my vacation/car shopping, etc.”
The guidelines are more detailed than Bucher described them. But they restrict the freedom that ESPN employees might previously have enjoyed.
“We’ve been in the social networking space for a long time, and will continue to be there,” said Chris LaPlaca, an ESPN spokesman. “But we want to be smarter about how we do it.” He said that Bucher’s “interpretation of the policy is mistaken.”
The guidelines say that on-air talent, reporters and writers are prohibited from having sports-related blogs or Web sites and that they will need a supervisor’s approval to discuss sports on any social networking sites. They will also be restricted from discussing internal policies or detailing how stories are “reported, written, edited or produced.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2...5espn.html?ref=business
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|Social networking has no place in the corporate world. It's no wonder it's being banned in more places each day as it means a lot of wasted time of your employees.
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|Having just read the order posted by Brigadier General Allen, it appears that the order will be reviewed as it states near the end of the details;
'7. CANCELLATION. THIS MARADMIN WILL BE CANCELLED ONE YEAR FROM DATE OF PUBLICATION' - MARADMIN is a M.C. Admin Order Message designation.
So, it unless the order is reinstated or countermanded social network access will once again be allowed next year. Email and other internet access remains unchanged though so it's not as though comms are being cut off.
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|The rules where probably relaxed to allow for better troop morale but a problem was most likely discovered with a few being very and posting information that could be used for intelligence purposes and and so have given the DoD no choice but to reinstate the full ban.
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|Gee whoda thought. The Coast Guard banned use of these sites and chat proggys 6 years or more ago. How come it took this long for the Marines to figure this out. Loose lips sink ships. I just dont get how we evolved into a society that needs to tell every detail of our lives to every other flesh pile on earth. What are these folks thinking, it's OK to sit and post "just sitting here in XXXXX with a pile of ammo and this top secret paperwork I gotta read? Or I'm manning the radios, gotta tell the bombers where the next target is? It seems like innocent chatter sometimes, but it doesn't take a brilliant person to piece together enough details to make a educated guess and exploit that volernability. Tell enought "friends" that your house is vacant and sooner or later an "other than friend" will use that info against you. You know we are only a speed bump away from your dog sending a text with his dinner request. Or posting how you are a bad pet owner.
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|These things haven't been allowed on Marine Corps Networks for a very long time. There was some "Slack" given in some areas where Marines didn't have access to commercial services, when they had no option but to use government resources for limited personal use. The limits have just more limited is all. Much needed if you ask me, social sites are the worst thing since marketing on TV imho. Of course even in some areas where these things weren't allowed, people could always find a way around limitations. This ban just gives the Corps the ability to formally punish people for breaking the ban. NJP ne1?
Score: 3
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