OPSEC training stressed during Antiterrorism Awareness Month at Fort McCoy

Courtesy Photo | Awareness about operations security, or OPSEC, for Department of Defense employees, military members, and others is critical to mission success. During August and Antiterrorism Awareness Month, DOD personnel are reminded to remember OPSEC. (U.S. Army Graphic Illustration)  

FORT MCCOY, WI, UNITED STATES

08.06.2019

Story by Scott Sturkol                                                                                        

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

Operations security (OPSEC) is a process that Soldiers, family members, and civilians use to protect critical information. Soldiers use OPSEC to deny information to adversaries that would endanger the mission.

Family members can use OPSEC at home and at work to prevent personal information from getting to people who want to steal from them or harm them.

Did you know:

• On travel to Iraq, a U.S. government official created a security risk for himself and others by tweeting his location and activities every few hours?

• Families have had their homes burglarized while they were on vacation because they kept friends up to date via online profiles?

• Information on social networking sites has led to people losing job offers, getting fired, and even being arrested?

• Social networking sites have become a haven for identity thieves and con artists to use your personal information against you?

• The Al Qaeda Handbook tells terrorists to search online for data about “government personnel and all matters related to them (residence, workplace, times of departure and arrival, number of children and places visited)”?

Some critical information to protect includes medical information and records; birth dates; home addresses; phone numbers; financial information such as account numbers; Social Security numbers; immediate family members’ information, including names and birth dates; routines and changes in them, including vacations; drivers’ license numbers; and passwords.

Follow these steps to help keep your family safe:

• Establish security protocols on your blog or webpage, such as encryption and password protection.

• Think of public Internet outlets as the front page of a local newspaper. You may be publishing useful information to criminals and terrorists.

• Check every privacy setting in your social media platforms and set your visibility to “friends only.”

• Ask yourself, “What could the wrong person do with this information?

• Limit any details about upcoming deployments, temporary duty assignments, or work performed.

• Avoid providing identifying information that would allow someone to target you or your family, such as your address, the school your child attends, or pictures of your child. These could provide clues that would enable predators to locate you and your family.

• Before posting a photo or video, make sure it does not give away sensitive information.

• Use an email address that does not contain personal information.

• Ensure younger members of the family understand what they can and cannot post online.

For more information about Antiterrorism Awareness Month, antiterrorism-awareness training, reporting suspicious activity, U.S. Army iWATCH, or other antiterrorism-related issues, call your installation Antiterrorism Office.

(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Antiterrorism Office.)

• Date Taken: 08.06.2019
• Date Posted: 08.06.2019 15:18
• Story ID: 334766
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WI, US