thedrifter
08-18-07, 06:05 PM
Report: Official sites biggest security threat
By Robert Weller - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Aug 18, 2007 16:24:36 EDT
DENVER — An Army investigative report obtained through a Freedom of Information request found that official Army Web sites violated operational security more than military bloggers.
The report was obtained by the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Frontier Foundation under a Freedom of Information request and published in Wired magazine.
Rebecca Jeschke, spokeswoman for EFF, confirmed her organization had obtained the information through an FOI request and given copies of it to Wired. She also e-mailed copies to the Associated Press on Saturday.
The documents were sent to EFF by Will Kammer, chief of the defense directorate for freedom of information requests made to the National Security Archive.
Dave Foster, on duty spokesman for the Army at the Pentagon, said he would seek comment on the report but it might not be available until Monday
“This is a about control, not operational security for the Pentagon. They’ve got an unchecked release of information coming from theater and it makes them nervous,” said Air Force Lt. John Noonan, a blogger. Noonan, who asked that his unit not be identified, said soldiers are motivated to stay within the rules so they don’t get into trouble.
An Army official, listed only as CIO Policy Division, Army Chief Information Officer — the name is blacked out — reports concern in an e-mail in the documents that the 10-person Web security unit in Manassa, Va., is being diverted from reviewing official sites by the attention that have to give to soldiers’ blogs.
The documents — many portions blacked out — say efforts to educate soldiers about the risks of revealing information that could jeopardize operational security by soldiers appeared to be paying off.
Audits performed by the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell, based in Virginia, found at least 1,813 violations of operational security on 878 official military Web sites and only 28 on 594 soldier blogs reviewed between January 2006 and January 2007.
The Army tightened rules on soldier blogging in May, requiring that they be cleared by commanders, partly because of concerns the bloggers might reveal information that would help insurgents. It also blocked access to YouTube, MySpace and a dozen other popular sites. So far, however, there have been no reports of major crackdowns on soldiers’ blogs or e-mails, although several bloggers said they were considering shutting down.
Wired magazine estimates there are 1,200 active military blogs. The Army founded its Web risk operation in 2002 and expanded it to include blogs in 2005.
“It’s clear that official Army Web sites are the real security problem, not blogs,” said staff attorney Marcia Hofmann told Wired. “Bloggers, on the whole, have been very careful and conscientious. It’s a pretty major disparity.”
Examples of official security violations on military Web sites included a secret presentation on the unclassified Army Knowledge Online Network and a map of an Army training center in Texas on a .mil site.
Ellie
By Robert Weller - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Aug 18, 2007 16:24:36 EDT
DENVER — An Army investigative report obtained through a Freedom of Information request found that official Army Web sites violated operational security more than military bloggers.
The report was obtained by the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Frontier Foundation under a Freedom of Information request and published in Wired magazine.
Rebecca Jeschke, spokeswoman for EFF, confirmed her organization had obtained the information through an FOI request and given copies of it to Wired. She also e-mailed copies to the Associated Press on Saturday.
The documents were sent to EFF by Will Kammer, chief of the defense directorate for freedom of information requests made to the National Security Archive.
Dave Foster, on duty spokesman for the Army at the Pentagon, said he would seek comment on the report but it might not be available until Monday
“This is a about control, not operational security for the Pentagon. They’ve got an unchecked release of information coming from theater and it makes them nervous,” said Air Force Lt. John Noonan, a blogger. Noonan, who asked that his unit not be identified, said soldiers are motivated to stay within the rules so they don’t get into trouble.
An Army official, listed only as CIO Policy Division, Army Chief Information Officer — the name is blacked out — reports concern in an e-mail in the documents that the 10-person Web security unit in Manassa, Va., is being diverted from reviewing official sites by the attention that have to give to soldiers’ blogs.
The documents — many portions blacked out — say efforts to educate soldiers about the risks of revealing information that could jeopardize operational security by soldiers appeared to be paying off.
Audits performed by the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell, based in Virginia, found at least 1,813 violations of operational security on 878 official military Web sites and only 28 on 594 soldier blogs reviewed between January 2006 and January 2007.
The Army tightened rules on soldier blogging in May, requiring that they be cleared by commanders, partly because of concerns the bloggers might reveal information that would help insurgents. It also blocked access to YouTube, MySpace and a dozen other popular sites. So far, however, there have been no reports of major crackdowns on soldiers’ blogs or e-mails, although several bloggers said they were considering shutting down.
Wired magazine estimates there are 1,200 active military blogs. The Army founded its Web risk operation in 2002 and expanded it to include blogs in 2005.
“It’s clear that official Army Web sites are the real security problem, not blogs,” said staff attorney Marcia Hofmann told Wired. “Bloggers, on the whole, have been very careful and conscientious. It’s a pretty major disparity.”
Examples of official security violations on military Web sites included a secret presentation on the unclassified Army Knowledge Online Network and a map of an Army training center in Texas on a .mil site.
Ellie