TWS "Together We Served"

[oklawall]

I work on an active duty base and was sent out there here is the body of the email. I'm not smart enough to put the power point show up here so if you would like it PM your email address to me and I will forward it. The big thing that I noticed was by the info in the slide show it has the Navy and Marine web site is in Germany and the Air Force is in Nova Scotia where the web site said they where in Calif.

The attached slide show (even though Air Force created) highlights a significant Operations Security (OPSEC) threat that has surfaced on the Web. The "Together We Served" website has no DoD affiliation and is, in fact, based outside of the U.S. There are no controls on who can access this website, so any information that is posted there is available to anyone for any purpose. This is an OPSEC nightmare! Thousands of AD individuals each posting seemingly innocuous bits of information can provide an aggregate of information that can be used by adversaries to build an in-depth understanding of our operations. And that is not a good thing.
All military-related information, including details of your job and assignments, as well as images of you in uniform, pictures of scenes in the AOR, etc, must be cleared before being released.
You are strongly urged to avoid any interaction with this and similar websites, not to even visit the site to see what all the hoopla is about. Taking a look without posting any information requires registering with the site and thereby establishes some level of linkage to the site.
We must remain aware that any information about us that is posted to the Web can be searched for, found, and, possibly, used against us.
Internet exhibitionism, the impulse to post information about ourselves on the Web, must be resisted - it is, plain and simple, bad OPSEC!
V/R,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
U.S. Special Operations Command
J1-Navy & Marine Corps Pers LCPO
Navy Element Admin Chief

[chupacabrachus]

So it's facebook for the armed forces basically?

[jeepinbanditrider]

I'm a part of it as is a large majority of the guys at work, as well as my wife. I have yet to receive an e-mail or brief at work about anything of this sort.

[Icey101]

I have seen two emails at work on it over past two weeks.

[oklawall]

Originally Posted by chupacabrachus

So it's facebook for the armed forces basically?

Yes it is

[chupacabrachus]

Originally Posted by oklawall

Yes it is

10-4. I see no problem with it so long as all of the info on it is kept private and not able to be searched freely by Joe Public. I know facebook, myspace, etc can be set to private so only friends/family/whoever you allow to see your info.

[havoc1]

Originally Posted by chupacabrachus

10-4. I see no problem with it so long as all of the info on it is kept private and not able to be searched freely by Joe Public. I know facebook, myspace, etc can be set to private so only friends/family/whoever you allow to see your info.

That makes it private to you, me, Joe Public. But if the owner of the website is using the site for information gathering, that's a whole different deal.

That said...crap! I left the AF a bit over a year ago and moved to the Army, but some of my old guys sent me a note and I joined up to keep in contact with them since MySpace and Facebook are such juvenile pains in the ass sometimes.

PM Sent!

[Badshot]

Originally Posted by chupacabrachus

10-4. I see no problem with it so long as all of the info on it is kept private and not able to be searched freely by Joe Public. I know facebook, myspace, etc can be set to private so only friends/family/whoever you allow to see your info.

OPSEC is OPSEC along with PERSEC .. if you have a clearance.. remember the oath you took when it was given to you - might have simply been part of the paperwork.

If you think that just because you make something "private" on a public site that it isn't accessible to someone with a bit of interest and time, then you really are not in touch with what is available even through Google Caching, much less many of the tools that any novice can get their hands on.

OPSEC and PERSEC are paramount to maintaining your own safety as well as that of the Armed Forces and the Country as a whole. Don't discount anything as too trivial!

[b52ace]

Here is the link to the AF version's first newsletter.

http://airforce.togetherweserved.com...ewsletter.html

They address the OPSEC issue on the left side banner. The publisher explains the site in the main article.

[chupacabrachus]

Originally Posted by Badshot

If you think that just because you make something "private" on a public site that it isn't accessible to someone with a bit of interest and time....

Never. I'm not condoning anything here.