As of today, all Marines can now access popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at work, and they don’t even have to apply for a waiver to do so.
Source – MarineCorpsTimes
Sounds like a terrible idea. The USMC must be incredibly confident in the security of their networks, and the integrity of their employees. Either that, or the Sergent Majors now think they need social networking access, so in turn everyone gets it.
I feel for those men and women, who before today were disconnected from the world as the rest of us know it… but knowing the nature of the internet and the risks that come with it, I think everyone would be a lot safer with the old rules.
I foresee a shitstorm very soon when OPSEC is compromised on a regular basis because of this new loose policy.
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9 responses to “Marine Corps. Embraces Social Networking”
army allows it and a soldier knows what to say and what not to. its drilled into their head. plus they already could get it on thier cell phones and they use skype and other sites
Computer viruses and hacking is always going to be one step ahead of even the department of defense. They will find breaches in security, then patch them until the end of time. It’s a cat and mouse game. What I’m most concerned about is with this new loose policy, there will be more Marines than ever online, and with hackers knowing they are on networks with plenty of sensitive information, they will be a huge target.
Secondly, I definitely am still concerned about someone slipping up and posting something online they shouldn’t have, that could compromise safety. I know what your saying about how OPSEC is drilled into their head, but all it really takes is one slip up and their could be disastrous consequences. I agree this already could have had the potential to happen because of their use of cellphones etc.. but when you expand the freedom even further with social networking it is just adding on another layer of possibility.
Well, the tactical network (SIPRNET) and the public internet are not supposed to be used at the same time on military computers. Marines use Facebook anyway, you know they are still human beings after all.
no supposed to? or not able to? If they are on completely different physical networks then that might put my mind at ease, but otherwise I don’t like the idea at all. From what I understand SIPRNet even uses TCP/IP.
Just think of the shitstorm that ensued after that cop in California said some stupid things about OCers. Any service member on a social network group is going either watch their words or get an ass chewing the next time they see their first line leader. It’s not like they’re going to turn down friend requests from squadmates and their team leaders.
That’s exactly what I’m talking about! The media is going to be all over the USMC if something similar takes place.
So hopefully it gets nipped in the bud before it happens.
I think the effect on moral will balance out any negatives in the long run anyway.
I don’t really think it’s a big deal. Before the old farts new what was up with the lcpl underground, Marines E-1 through O-10 were using youtube and myspace. There wasn’t anything written in black and white that said you couldn’t, but you weren’t supposed to be loligagging on the internet during working hours regardless what site you were on. Then along came NMCI. Even still, there were backdoor websites that enabled you to log on regardless of NMCI and the USMC restrictions. If the Marine Corps are allowing facespace and twitter etc. it shows that they are getting softer every year. As far as OPSEC is concerned, it always seemed like the higher up the ladder you were, the more you were obligated to violate it. I remember seeing officers and senior enlisted wifes show up on the dock when ported in Australia on the way to Iraq after 9/11 just happened. Our destination was “top secret” and we didn’t know we were stopping in Australia till we pulled in. Funny how OpSec works.
Interesting insight p1choco, thanks. I didn’t realize there were so many ways around the system, and everyone was already using the mainstream portion of the internet already.