US Military changes social media policy by Magdalena Rosova

The Pentagon has authorized the use of Twitter, Facebook and other sites across the U.S. military. The decision was announced on Friday, the Pentagon said the benefits of social media outweighs security concerns. The decision applies only to the military's non-classified network, but can cause big changes. Marines, for example, had banned social media on work computers. The Department of Defense also had bans on accessing sites such as YouTube on its network. The purpose of the new policy is to use the advantages of the modern Internet-based capabilities. Social media are very important for the U.S. military. For example, Admiral Mike Mullen has more than 16,000 followe! rs on his Twitter and U.S. Southern Command use Twitter to give operational updates on relief activities in Haiti. Defense Secretary Robert Gates would like to use social networking to help the Pentagon reach out U.S. military members, mainly the young ones. But there is still the risk of information leaks. The usage of social networks will open gateways to hackers. Commanders will have hard job to defend against cyber-attacks and block access to online pornography, gambling and sites promoting "hate-crime related activities.” The new policy gives commanders right to temporarily limit Internet access if the bandwidth is overwhelmed. The Defense Department will also monitor the use of its network. The Pentagon realizes it needs to be good at both, the ability to share information and also ability to provide highest security. David Wennergre, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, thinks it is more effective to teach people so they know what can and what can n! ot be disclosed on the Internet than simply ban the use o soci! al media on work computers.

related story (sgx16627): http://joetrippi.com/blog/?p=3229...

by Magdalena Rosova for SigEx Ventures (http://sigexventures.com)

SigEx Ventures's matrix of properties are quickly becoming leaders in digital telebroadcasting, free content delivery allowing people to easily talk, view, upload and share through free online TV broadcasting, free unlimited global calls, video blogs and SMS. SigEx Ventures invests in projects deploying "free" to add-on royalty revenue models