Israeli raid called off after Facebook slip

[Colin Parkinson]

Hmmmm a good reminder about OPSEC


Israeli raid called off after Facebook slip
March 3, 2010 - 4:05pm

By SHIRA RUBIN
Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's military has "unfriended" one of its own _ after a combat soldier potentially updated Israel's enemies on Facebook.

The military said Wednesday that a planned raid on a West Bank village was called off after the soldier disclosed its details online. The military said the soldier posted the time and location of the raid on his Facebook page, saying that troops were planning on "cleaning up" the village.

Fellow soldiers reported the leak to military authorities, who canceled the raid, fearing that the information may have reached hostile groups and put troops at risk.

The soldier was court-martialed and sentenced to 10 days in prison. He was also removed from his battalion and combat postings.

A military statement added that it is cracking down on soldiers' use of social networking Web sites and has launched a campaign warning of the dangers of sharing military information online.

"Uploading classified information to social networks or any Web site exposes the information to anyone who wishes to view it, including foreign and hostile intelligence services," the military statement read. "Hostile intelligence agents scan the Internet with an eye toward collecting information on the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), which may undermine operational success and imperil IDF forces."

The military said that soldiers were prohibited from publishing classified information, including photographs containing military data.

In posters placed on military bases, a mock Facebook page shows the images of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. Below their pictures _ and Facebook "friend requests" _ reads the slogan: "You think that everyone is your friend?"


(Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
By SHIRA RUBIN
Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's military has "unfriended" one of its own _ after a combat soldier potentially updated Israel's enemies on Facebook.

The military said Wednesday that a planned raid on a West Bank village was called off after the soldier disclosed its details online. The military said the soldier posted the time and location of the raid on his Facebook page, saying that troops were planning on "cleaning up" the village.

Fellow soldiers reported the leak to military authorities, who canceled the raid, fearing that the information may have reached hostile groups and put troops at risk.

The soldier was court-martialed and sentenced to 10 days in prison. He was also removed from his battalion and combat postings.

A military statement added that it is cracking down on soldiers' use of social networking Web sites and has launched a campaign warning of the dangers of sharing military information online.

"Uploading classified information to social networks or any Web site exposes the information to anyone who wishes to view it, including foreign and hostile intelligence services," the military statement read. "Hostile intelligence agents scan the Internet with an eye toward collecting information on the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), which may undermine operational success and imperil IDF forces."

The military said that soldiers were prohibited from publishing classified information, including photographs containing military data.

In posters placed on military bases, a mock Facebook page shows the images of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. Below their pictures _ and Facebook "friend requests" _ reads the slogan: "You think that everyone is your friend?"

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1902506#

 

[Dean22]

Was briefed on this tonight.

Pretty crappy situation but honestly how dumb can this soldier be?

I am surprised the IDF hasn't banned it like the US Marines.

I personally keep facebook at maximum possible security.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

My understanding is that the US military reviewed OPSEC on social media sites and found less cases of OPSEC there then on official government sites. The military has been ordered to allow blogs and posts on social media with oversight from the poster supervising officer.

 

[Snaketnk]

Colin P, do you have sources for that? I'd love to get my hands on them.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

There is a link to the article on the bottom of the page.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Bumped with the latest - it appears lessons have not been learned yet ....

The IDF and Facebook have a relationship that is, well, complicated. Ten years after the launch of the social media giant, and days after Facebook’s $19-billion acquisition of WhatsApp, there is, from the army’s perspective, the good, the bad, the secret, and the ambiguous.

Col. (res) Avi Becker, the former head of weaponry at the IDF Computer Services Directorate, put the overall ratio of good to bad at 35:65. He is probably more generous than most. But as the IDF drafts from the civilian pool of a nation that uses Facebook more than any other country in the world (according to 2011 figures), the army has attempted to address the dangers, grapple with the uncertainties and harness the opportunities inherent in social media.

The bad is often highlighted. The halls and bathrooms of the IDF, once the given over to posters featuring Syrian tanks and aircraft, are today lined with notices about the dangers of social media. One ubiquitous placard features a Facebook-like blue banner with mugshots of Bashar Assad, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Nasrallah. “You have three new friend requests,” it reads.

Beneath the photos, the IDF’s military intelligence writes, “You think everyone is your friend?! The enemy uses social media to collect information about the IDF!”

Over the past several years, the army, which today estimates that 95 percent of its enlisted soldiers and 70 percent of its officers’ corps has a Facebook account, has been forced to address an array of leaks. In 2010, a soldier in the artillery corps posted this status: “Cleaning up Katana and home on Thursday.” Katana is a village in the West Bank. The status revealed the time of the planned raid and the unit involved. The other soldiers in the unit, also apparently glued to their screens, saw the update and, feeling imperiled, let the authorities know. The soldier was dismissed, the raid canceled.

Later that year the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate sent out a bulletin to soldiers featuring photos of drones and other sensitive IDF equipment. The photos were from an official Hamas website, the bulletin said; all had been downloaded from IDF soldiers’ personal Facebook pages.

In October 2012, Walla News revealed that several generals in the IDF General Staff had joined a WhatsApp group in order to streamline unclassified communication and to gossip. Only once it was made clear to the generals that the application was relatively insecure and that their location and mood were easily attainable did they disband the group ....