FBI advises military to “scrub” social media of sensitive information
On Sunday, the FBI issued a warning to members of the U.S. military about the potential for attacks at home by the terrorist group ISIS.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a joint bulletin urging men and women in the armed forces to review their social media profiles on sites like Facebook and Twitter, and to remove any sensitive information that could make themselves or their families a target at home.
The bulletin stated:
The FBI and DHS recommend that current and former members of the military review their online social media accounts for any information that might serve to attract the attention of ISIL [ISIS] and its supporters.
The bulletin also warned that ISIS is actively pursuing like-minded individuals within the United States in order to recruit them for acts of terrorism within the country.
While the bulletin does not advise people to avoid social media entirely, it does encourage them to use “operational security” in all public forums.
“We certainly do know that they [ISIS] monitor social media,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby. “I think there’s a general understanding here that his is an environment that this particular enemy has proven adept at using and we don’t want to give them any more advantage than they’re already trying to gain”
Attacks at home
The U.S. has not faced an act of terrorism within its borders for some time now, but other countries have not been so fortunate. The United Kingdom and Canada, both allies of the United States, have faced their own tragedies at home over the last year.
A member of the U.K. military was murdered by Islamic extremists in in front of the Royal Artillery Barracks in London in May 2013. Last week a parliamentary committee issued a report criticizing Facebook for failing to inform U.K. law enforcement when one of the attackers voiced his desire to murder a British soldier months before the attack took place.
More recently in October of this year, an extremist shot a killed a Canadian soldier on ceremonial duty. He then attempted to attack members of parliament before he was killed in a shootout with the authorities.
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