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Imagine a terrorist organization searching to collect information about base personnel, their personal lives, children, where they work, their education, how much money they make.
Imagine them being able to find out who is currently deployed, who is about to deploy, where we’ve been and who we have been there with, all without coming in the gate or even the country.
***image1***This is the type of data-collecting made possible by dozens of social networking sites on the World Wide Web, and Air Force commanders at all levels have taken notice.
With more than 1 billion Internet users, using dozens of social networking Web sites, it is not outlandish to expect many of those logging in to come from Airmen, which causes operational security and general personal safety concerns.
“When a predator collects information, it’s like putting together a big puzzle,” said Agent John Crowe, Air Force Office of Special Investigations. “Every piece of information he gathers when combined with information from other sources, creates a bigger puzzle. Eventually he will have the whole picture and his mission will be accomplished.”
MySpace is currently the world’s sixth most popular Web site and the leader of social networking, offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends. MySpace also allows items such as personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos to be posted for teenagers and adults internationally.
According to OSI officials here, every servicemember who places too much information about themselves on these sites could place themselves, their families and other servicemembers in potential danger due to the global war on terror activities.
Another social networking Web site, Facebook – launched in 2004 – is estimated to have more than 60 million users and 1.7 billion photos uploaded.
It is also estimated that Facebook has 65 billion pages viewed per month.
“The major concern with the pictures servicemembers post is not uniforms but the backgrounds in many of the photos,” said Jorge Ledee, 435th Security Forces Squadron special investigations NCOIC. “Many are taken in front of special military equipment such as Humvees equipped with various military weapons and unit-identifying markings.”
“Other countries and terrorist organizations use blogs, message-boards and posted photos to gain information about U.S. military assets in the United States and overseas,” said Mr. Crowe.
There have been some concerns expressed by the federal government regarding the use of Facebook as a means of surveillance.
And Facebook and MySpace are not alone. There are dozens of social networking sites and more come online every day, like Badoo – one of the most popular sites in Europe – and Cyworld, popular among young South Koreans.
Another risk that personnel take for granted when posting personal information or using these sites as a dating service is the risk of a predator. MySpace has found and deleted nearly 30,000 profiles belonging to registered sex offenders.
“Personnel should remember, when posting information or photographs on these Web sites – even for patriotic reasons – there are bad people out there viewing the same sites,” said Special Agent Ledee.
Military members are using the Web now more than ever to stay in contact with friends and family. Others use the Web as a social dating service. The important thing to remember as we live through this electronic age is that we are not the only ones surfing the World Wide Web every day.
“By trying to illicit personal and official information from military personnel around the world in all the services, the enemy can put together that big picture of our force, and that’s what we have to be careful of,” said Mr. Crowe.
