Shun big social media groups: Army to staff

NEW DELHI: The over 13-lakh-strong Army has warned its officers and soldiers against joining large groups on WhatsApp and other social networking platforms where the identity of many users is not known, as part of its periodic advisory to all ranks on data and cyber security as well as computer usage norms.
A senior Army officer on Monday said the two-page directive was aimed at cautioning personnel about the dangers of getting “honey-trapped” or inadvertently leaking out information on postings or troop movements, which could be helpful to adversaries. Military personnel have also been asked to not post their pictures on their profiles on networking websites or disclosing their affiliation to the armed forces.
Some, however, said the order not to join large chat groups was designed to curb criticism and free exchange of views among serving personnel and veterans on “faulty” policies being undertaken by service headquarters. “Veterans are part and parcel of military life. They are certainly much more vocal in their criticism about policies like the recent order to tax disability pensions,” said an officer.
But the Army maintained the main objective behind such advisories was to maintain security of data and personnel. “Inimical elements are always on the lookout for inadvertent leaking of confidential data and information through such chat groups and networking sites. They introduce malware or mask their identity to access data from the user,” said the senior officer.
With Chinese and Pakistani agents continuously on the prowl to hack into Indian computer systems, the armed forces have even court-martialled several officers for posting “classified information” on social networking websites, as was earlier reported by TOI.