Cyber threat debate: U.K. MoD restricts personnels Twitter use

With the debate about the growing threat cyber attacks pose the world, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence has begun a new campaign teaching its personnel about what it considers acceptable behaviour on social networking sites.

In a statement released yesterday evening the government agency described the new campaign's purpose as, "encouraging Service personnel and MOD civilians to carefully consider possible repercussions before posting information on social networking sites."

The statement specifically mentions Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as the most likely sources of security leaks.

The statement advised all MoD personnel, "not to put themselves or others at increased risk by releasing too much information about themselves or other operational details."

The new set of guidelines has been officially titled, "Think Before You....". While the department remained vague about what the actual recommendations are, it did confirm that the guidance would be incorporated into "Phase 1 training when applicants first join the Services and into other mandated training materials for serving personnel."

Chief of the Defence Staff's Strategic Communications Officer, Major General John Lorimer commented on the new campaign:

"Social media has enabled our personnel to stay in touch with their families and their friends no matter where they are in the world. We want our men and women to embrace the use of sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, but also want them to be aware of the risks that sharing too much information may pose. You don't always know who else is watching in cyberspace.

"The MOD Headquarters has its own Facebook, YouTube and Twitter feeds and we see no reason to stop our personnel from tweeting or posting on their own walls. But the MOD has a responsibility to warn personnel of the risks they could be exposing themselves to, hence the launch of this new campaign."