Military blocks internet access to social networks

U.S. Marine Corps blocks internet access to social networks

August 4, 2009

The United States Marine Corps has issued an order prohibiting marines from using military broadband internet connections and computers to access social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, citing the risk of information exposure to adversaries.

Although military networks already block access to social networking sites (SNS) in some locations, officials said the blanket ban was partially put in place to create a process to allow for exceptions to the rule for authorized use of SNS, according to the Associated Press.

SNS have been used by the military branches extensively for recruitment, public relations and connecting to military families. However, the nature of internet-based capabilities is that there are "operations risks that must be understood and mitigated," a Pentagon memo said.

The Marine Corps directive states that "the very nature of SNS creates a larger attack and exploitation window, exposes unnecessary information to adversaries and provides an easy conduit for information leakage," that puts operational security and personnel at risk.

Websites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have frequently been exploited by cybercriminals for the purpose of sending spam, identity theft and infecting computers with malicious software.

The Pentagon has ordered a review of its policies governing military access to SNS, according to the AP.