By Maj. Veleka Henderson
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar - I can’t believe I just hit the four month mark here on Camp As Sayliyah. Time is going fast! The unit is constantly moving, which is great as there are so many things happening. However, being a security manager gives me a different perspective on these happenings.
During my time here, I noticed there are a few things that I do as standard practice that others may not know of or even think about. For example, when receiving mail, I cut the address label off of the package. This is to ensure that family member’s or friend’s information doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.
Another example is shredding. I shred every piece of paper that I no longer use whether it’s personal or official, even mail. By the way, did you know that shredding is an Army Central Command policy? After all, if someone is looking for your Personally Identifiable Information, they will take the time to piece together the information needed.
I also store my cell phone away from classified systems as this is considered a security violation. The S2 shop is working to get cell phone boxes for offices to assist with this process. I am also very conscience of my conversations on social media as the information I put out can not only harm me, but also others that are connected to me. Just the other day a co-worker said one of her friends posted her unit movement on Facebook! I told her to have that friend remove the information as quickly as possible. It could potentially harm everyone traveling with that unit.
Recently, the Area Support Group-Qatar Field Office personnel went dumpster diving and uncovered a large amount of PII. They uncovered company training slides, more than 53 Social Security numbers, more than 31 home mailing addresses, more than 50 associated email addresses, seven times of banking account information, one times of credit card information, more than 100 associated names, ranks, duty information, two times of military police information worksheets, two times of network IP configurations, maps of CAS and bases in Iraq, even uniforms. Most people disregard the risk, as well as, the negative impact of improperly destroying other people’s information, because they don’t treat the information as if it were their own.
Security is usually looked at as a hindrance, when actually it is a preventive practice. You don’t wait until something happens to prepare. Recently, security became a grave concern to the Department of Defense due to high publicity stories of Pfc. Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden.
These stories paint the picture of how loose our security practices and procedures really are and how risks to our national security are created when not properly followed.
I want to invite everyone to start looking at your own work space and living area. Ask yourself, “Am I security conscience?”
If the answer is no, then please start policing up this area of your life. Not only for yourself, but also for the people that you work with everyday as you could potentially be saving someone’s life or protecting their identity.
| Date Taken: | 12.09.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 12.23.2013 00:24 |
| Story ID: | 118580 |
| Location: | CAMP AS SALIYAH, QA |
| Web Views: | 38 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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