Security From Social Media

Security from Social Media
Shakion Melton
COMM/215 » Essentials of College Writing
March 23, 2015
Julie McCabe
Security from Social Media
Even though social media helps service members communicate with their families and stay in contact with current events, social media should be banned from all phases of the military because enemies of the military are using social media to target service members and service members themselves could unwittingly post sensitive information for everyone to see.
The Enemy is using Social Media against Us
Just this past Saturday, “a previously unknown group calling itself the Islamic State Hacking Organization posted the names, photos and addresses of about 100 U.S. troops online, calling for attacks against them” (Castillo, 2015). According to the online article, “the file appeared to include information that is already available through public records and social media accounts” (Castillo, 2015). It also “claimed to have hacked military databases and said it was leaking 100 names so that our brothers residing in America can deal with you” (Castillo, 2015). While public records are not something that can be changed directly, the use of social media by military service members can be eliminated; therefore eliminating another possible threat to our Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Coast Guard that serve in this country and abroad.
Service Members Make Mistakes
As a service member myself, I have seen the errors from my comrades with regards to social media. Dates, times, the nature of mission, and other details could be posted on someone’s social media account like Facebook or Twitter, just to name a few, while communicating with family and friends. Although not a direct detailed listing of the event, the incident could easily be extrapolated from the simple post. Images can give potentially dangerous information as well. In one instance, a Soldier from the Army National Guard took a picture of herself in the Arms Room with all of the weapons in the background. Then posted it on her Facebook timeline stating that she was inventorying weapons in Brooklyn (New York) that weekend. This simple upload not only showed that the facility contained armament, but also narrowed down the location of the facility. An issue like this is benign in its intent, but those that wish to do this country harm could use a posting like that to plan unspeakable danger.
Social Media has its Advantages
Now more than ever, the military is using social media to its advantage. All branches of the military have their own Facebook page. According to the article Social Media and Military Families: A Perspective by Matthews-Juarez, Juarez, and Faulkner (2013),
“Admiral Mike Mullen, serving as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was an avid Twitter user with more than 16,000 followers. In 2011, the website www.milpages.mil was designed for military personnel by military personnel. And like all civilians, social media provides the opportunity for service members to speak freely about their lives and interests.”
While the basic guidelines of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) states that “commenting, posting, or linking to material that violates the UCMJ or basic rules is prohibited” (Matthews-Juarez et al. 2013), service members make mistakes. It should also be noted that social media provides much needed communication with families and allows service members to stay current with world events. While this is a true statement, social media is not the only way. Service members can use the internet to read current events directly from news websites. Families can still use emails and encrypted chat rooms, which every branch in the military provides, to communicate. Social media is an open-sourced platform that, while easy to use, can also be easy to manipulate.
The most important reason social media should be banned from all phases of the military is because enemies of the military are using social media to target service members. Garside, Ponnusamy, Chan, and Pickering (2012) proposes “a realistic and feasible solution is to build a secure military social networking interface for the major social networking sites.” While this is very possible, the better solution would be to eliminate the ability to utilize social media from military networks and ban its use from service members altogether. Having no social media outlet for enemies of this country to use against service members, is better than attempting to find a secure common ground that must always be revisited as enemies become smarter and more proficient in breaking security protocols.
Conclusion
In conclusion, although social media helps service members communicate with their families and stay in contact with current events, social media should be banned from all phases of the military for two main reasons. First, service members themselves could unwittingly post sensitive information for everyone to see. But most importantly, enemies of the military are using social media to target service members.

References
Castillo, M. (2015). CNN Unknown Group Threatens Troops Online. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/22/politics/online-threat-against-troops/index.html
Matthews-Juarez, P., Juarez, P. D., & Faulkner, R. T. (2013). Social Media and Military Families: A Perspective. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 23(), 769-776. doi:10.1080/10911359.2013.795073
Garside, D., Ponnusamy, A., Chan, S., & Picking, R. (2012). Secure Military Social Networking and Rapid Sensemaking in Domain Specific Concept Systems: Research Issues and Future Solutions. Future Internet, 4(), 253-264. doi:10.3390/fi4010253

References: Castillo, M. (2015). CNN Unknown Group Threatens Troops Online. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/22/politics/online-threat-against-troops/index.html Matthews-Juarez, P., Juarez, P. D., & Faulkner, R. T. (2013). Social Media and Military Families: A Perspective. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 23(), 769-776. doi:10.1080/10911359.2013.795073 Garside, D., Ponnusamy, A., Chan, S., & Picking, R. (2012). Secure Military Social Networking and Rapid Sensemaking in Domain Specific Concept Systems: Research Issues and Future Solutions. Future Internet, 4(), 253-264. doi:10.3390/fi4010253