Indian Defence Review

The unprecedented reach of social media is something armies cannot afford to ignore because of the positive and negative effect it can have on operational matters. Its power must, therefore, be recognised and managed. One option is a granular firewall to limit social media activities based on the user’s role in the organisation. The most important part of social media security strategy is awareness of policies designed to ensure regulatory compliance and to prevent sensitive information leaking. There is no way organisations can hold back the flow of social media, so it is better to put policies and technologies in place to manage it.

Organisations need to understand social media; they need to accept that it is not going away, and if they allow it, they need to monitor for any immoral, illegal, or offensive content, and be able to stop it immediately if it occurs. Success is achieved through empowering staff to undertake social media on behalf of the organisation in line with a comprehensive policy backed up with continual training. However, organisations should also recognise that analysis of the information in social conversations can produce security intelligence to improve security processes and enhance performance. Organisations also need to exercise caution against attempts to block access to external social media because they have proved to be ineffective at controlling risks and impede the development of enterprising social media initiatives.

A battlefield safety issue that some people have been warning about – and others have been ignoring – merits attention, i.e. an enemy using social media and cell phone geo-tagging to identify the precise location of troops on a battlefield. When a new fleet of helicopters arrived with an aviation unit at a base in Iraq, some soldiers took pictures on the flight-line. From the photos that were uploaded on the internet, the enemy was able to determine the exact location of the helicopters inside the compound and carry out a mortar attack, destroying four AH-64 Apaches.13 Insurgents figured out how to use this to their advantage in Iraq years ago.14

Social media is becoming a key information source for the public when violent terror acts occur. It is changing the speed of how the public learns about terrorist attacks, and the way they react. The first information to the public about incidents is now likely to come through Social media channels such as Twitter rather than through traditional news outlets. The use of social media in India was first highlighted during the 2008 Mumbai attacks, when Twitter and Flickr became the media through which much information about the attacks reached Indians and the outside world. A new way of crisis reporting emerged when Western journalists mined Twitter posts by people in Mumbai for details on attacks.15

Social media is increasingly important in influencing the public’s understanding of such attacks and what happens in the aftermath. It has implications for the first response by police to such attacks, with witnesses tweeting directly from the scene. There are important lessons for the police and authorities in terms of taking the heat out of a tense situation and reducing the opportunities for ‘secondary crimes’, e.g. hate crimes and public order incidents in different towns and cities across the country. Over the past few years the beliefs of young Muslims, that police will treat them fairly, have been declining. This has important implications for the Government’s Prevent Strategy and how counter-terrorism resources are used following future incidents.

The ubiquity of smartphones means that information can be spread to a wide audience in real-time, providing details about the attack and police response and updates on further developments. This new reality means that policymakers, security services and police forces need to consider the impact of social media in the aftermath of terrorist attacks in terms of response planning for terrorist incidents, rapid dissemination of information and criminal investigation procedures. There is a need to improve strategic communications capacity and capability in the initial response phase to inform the public about what is actually happening, in order to counteract rumours and conspiracy theories.

Social media means that the community impacts of terrorist attacks are more widespread and longer lasting. Long-term community impact management strategies should be developed, encompassing different agencies. Uniform Resource Locator (URL)16 shortening services are now an essential component for social media. This approach is commonly used by malicious parties to spread malware and viruses, as the use of shortened URLs can hide the real destination.17

Conclusion

The use of social media has become a ubiquitous component of the ever more interconnected world in which we now live. The use of social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can provide organisations with new and innovative ways in which to engage with their staff. However this highly dynamic and end-user focused environment also brings with it a number of security concerns. The data held within social media can provide an attacker with a wealth of information about the internal workings of an organisation, including detail on roles and responsibilities, projects, relationships and expose information about internal IT systems, including the ability to identify security vulnerabilities.

This information can provide a valuable insight into an organisation and increase the likelihood of a successful social engineering attack or even a direct attack against systems. Social media offers the ability for organisations to spread messages in real time to a much wider audience and promotes a two-way interactive dialogue between the end-user and the organisation. However, organisations need to understand both the positive and negative impact that social media can have on their image and manage this channel of communication effectively. This will enable them to avoid potentially damaging stories and other issues going unmanaged.

Without doubt, the use of social media provides a new avenue for organisations to exploit, but at the same time introduce fresh and potentially serious threats. Organisations should confirm that they have the appropriate policies and procedures in place, such as an effective acceptable use policy, training and awareness for social media and a social media handling policy. This will ensure that they are able to explore this opportunity without unduly exposing themselves to new threats and associated risks.