Monday, March 01, 2010
Military and civilian personnel will soon be able to access social networking websites from the Department of Defense’s non-classified computer network, according to a new policy. The Pentagon has decided to allow soldiers, as well as civilian workers, to use Facebook, Twitter and other social media on the Web from NIPRNET (Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network) as long as there’s no trouble. The new policy permits individual branches of the armed forces to restrict access if cyber attacks or abuse by workers becomes a problem.
The decision to craft the new policy followed conflicting protocols created last year by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. The Army decided to permit its personnel to access Facebook and Twitter, but banned MySpace and YouTube, while Marines were shut off from Facebook, MySpace and Twitter for at least one year. Corps commanders reached their original decision because they concluded Web 2.0 was “a proven haven for malicious actors and content and are particularly high risk due to information exposure, user generated content and targeting by adversaries.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Pentagon Loosens Reins Over Facebook, Twitter, Web 2.0 Apps (by Clint Boulton, eWeek.com)
Military Announces New Social Media Policy (by James Dao, New York Times)
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