Fearing online attacks, the U.S. Marine Corps bans several social networking websites

Aug 5, 2009 10:59 GMT  ·  By

After the Department of Defense (DOD) announced a few days ago that it would start an investigation in the usage of social networking sites, the U.S. Marine Corps has issued an immediate one-year ban for many social network providers, until more details regarding the phenomenon will be available.

This doesn't mean that US marine troops will not have access to this kind of websites, it just means that they will not be able to access them starting August 3rd from the DOD network.

Immediate bans were put on social networks like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. These measures affect only those computers directly connected to the DOD networks, troops owning personal PCs still being able to access these websites, but only on their spare time.

Citing the official press release from the US Marine Corps commandment, social networks are considered to be “web-based services that allow communities of people to share common interests and/or experiences (existing outside of DOD networks) or for those who want to explore interests and background different from their own. These Internet sites in general are a proven haven for malicious actors and content and are [a] particularly high risk due to information exposure, user generated content and targeting by adversaries.”

Usage of the above-mentioned websites is permitted only after prior accreditation that will be given only for military and strategic missions. The ban will expire within a year, a period considered sufficient for the DOD investigation to reach a conclusion about the social networking's impact on military employees and operations.

This action comes as a natural follow-up after many social networking worms have raided the Internet and breached many accounts for secure or private information. The U.S. Military is highly aware of the risk these viruses present to its troop accounts, and its privately owned accounts (DOD has a Facebook and Twitter account).

Other U.S. Military and DOD services are expected to issue similar announcements in the coming weeks.