FollowYourGov » security

Social Media Criticisms and the Military

Chris — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:45:09 +0000

The Emerging Media Coordinator at the Defense Information School, Staff Sgt. Joshua Salmons, was recently interviewed at SmartBlogs. I found this especially interesting and relevant to all of us:

Social media has some of the same vulnerabilities, sure, but there are tools to mitigate risk just like with e-mail, computer use or the chance that a spouse will give away information on the phone. Short of locking up all employees in the basement, there will always be security risks. Social media does have its own set of vulnerabilities, but to write it off as a lost cause because of the risk is overreacting, in my opinion.

A very interesting perspective on social media in the military. He responds to many of the criticisms of social media, a must read.

Power of Social Media in a Crisis

Chris — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:31:20 +0000

FP Wellman, a former Army public affairs officer, has an older post about the power of social media and new technology in a crisis. He explains how social tools can be very helpful to existing crisis response plans, specifically talking about a shooting and a blizzard:

Mr. Don Carr, Director of Public Affairs, tells me that “most of what we did is part of the PA (public affairs) annex to the installation’s adverse weather response plan. The SM sites are not specifically part of the annex; we just did it. Our update to the annex will roll ‘em in.”

Mr. Carr goes on to note what made the social media outlets especially powerful “was the ‘instant’ feedback we got on FB and Twitter. As residents or employees would post a comment about how things were, I was able to cut-n-paste them into emails to the IOC (Installation Operations Center), DPW (Department of Public Works) or the Housing folks, so that priorities for plows and other work could be adjusted accordingly.”

I think if you are a PIO or anyway involved in crisis response, this is a very valuable article.

On Social Networking Security

Chris — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:39:46 +0000

Sophos released an advisory on security risks with social networking this past week. ReadWriteWeb has a great article on the subject, and has this recommendation:

The real solution to the social networking security problem is to embrace sites instead of blocking them. Rather than being overly restrictive, companies would do better to make social networking policies a part of their corporate policy and procedure manuals, spelling out what is and is not acceptable within their organization. Left up to users, it’s clear that for some, it’s anything goes…and that’s a danger most companies cannot afford.

Update to Internet Explorer Tomorrow

Chris — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:14:29 +0000

Following last week’s admission that the hacker attack on Google was through an Internet Explorer vulnerability (in IE6, IE7, and IE8), tomorrow Microsoft will issue an out-of-band update for systems. This is after the governments of both Germany and France told citizens to stop using the Internet Explorer web browser.

Mashable has an article on why must end use of Internet Explorer 6, a common vector for attacks.

Do you think it is time to stop using Internet Explorer in government?

North Carolina Social Media Policy

Chris — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:31:56 +0000

The State of North Carolina has issued a new policy on government social media policy, focusing on:

appropriate implementation, authorization and acceptable use of social media

Security measures to protect individuals, sensitive information and state systems

Proper records management and preservation

A Little Too Worried about Young Employees?

Chris — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:12:50 +0000

Another of the Governing magazine articles on social media in government: New Hires and the Facebook Effect. I’m not particularly fond on this article, because while young hires do need to understand a computer/network use policy, saying they’ll take bribes to “steal or manipulate information” is across the line. People want to be connected, not commit crimes.

On Security Worries with Gov 2.0

Chris — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:44:04 +0000

Gartner analyst Andrea DiMaio: When Security Concerns Are An Elegant Excuse Not To Tackle Government 2.0. I have to agree completely, and don’t miss this great quote:

… the crux of the matter is (1) to empower employees to access external social networks (2) in order to find useful avenues to deliver value to both their constituencies and their agencies.