Preventing criminal, terrorist activity

Published Feb. 5, 2008

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- Identifying, exploiting, and neutralizing criminal, terrorist, and intelligence threats to the Air Force, Department of Defense and government is the mission statement of the Air Force Office of Investigation.
   One method OSI promotes is, every Airman being proactive in preventing criminals and terrorists from exploiting data on the Internet.
   In an unprecedented New Year 'high priority' warning, MI5, Britain's Security Service, asked British troops to remove all personal details they posted over the Christmas period on social networking Web sites. MI5 Internet analysts discovered al-Qaida operatives had been monitoring the sites to gather details that could be used to launch terror attacks. Under the heading 'Personal Security,' a two-page document, signed by MI5 Chief Jonathan Evans, was circulated on New Year's Day to all British commanders in Britain, Afghanistan and Iraq.
   "You are requested to ensure that service connections on chat room and dating sites do not appear," he wrote.
   The MI5 analysts said they've seen thousands of servicemen who have posted personal details on those Web sites and have included news of their careers, pictures of themselves in uniforms and details of past postings.
   "Those details in the hands of al-Qaida operatives offer invaluable information," Chief Evans wrote. "We now know al-Qaida is using hundreds of false accounts to access the personal pages of many service personnel listed on regimental forums on the site."
   As an indication of the danger on New Year's Eve, one MI5 analyst uncovered the names of 954 servicemen on the Royal Marines network and another analyst found no fewer than 127 names of Royal Anglican Regiment soldiers.
   "Many of the soldiers gave their full names, dates of birth, hometowns, names of family members, girlfriends or wives, the locations of where they had served and photos posing with colleagues and weapons," Chief Evans wrote. "That kind of detail is pure gold to terrorists. It can enable them to plot an attack as never before. Not only on targets in the field, but against the families of those soldiers."
   As indicated in the release from MI5, OSI officials are asking everyone regardless of military affiliation, not to place personal data on the Internet. Everyone should remember even a harmless photo of you and your buddies could reveal layouts of buildings, security measures, units that are in certain areas, or anything that you would take as innocent. When you put together information or photos from one MySpace account and put it with the same information or photos from another MySpace account, it gives terrorists and or criminal elements leverage on exploiting our vulnerabilities.