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IP: Pentagon curbs Web content
From: [email protected]
Subject: IP: Pentagon curbs Web content
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 07:43:45 -0500
To: [email protected]
Source: ComputerWorld
http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/all/98091838dod
(Online News, 09/18/98 01:07 PM)
Pentagon curbs Web content
By Sharon Machlis
Top Pentagon officials are scouring military Web sites to see if too much
information is being made public -- data that could potentially help the
country's enemies.
Some observers fear that listing members of specific military units could
help terrorists find revenge targets, for example, particularly after an
operation such as the recent missile strikes in Afghanistan and the Sudan.
"Basically, the military does stupid things," said Ira Winkler, a former
analyst at the National Security Agency and author of the books Corporate
Espionage and Through the Eyes of the Enemy.
"The military does not exercise good operational security when it comes to
their Web sites ... There's no valid reason for a military unit to have a
Web site," Winkler said.
Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre and the military's Joint Staff have
been checking for Web postings such as building plans, research and
development efforts and "personnel information that could perhaps provide
too much information," said Defense Department spokesman Kenneth Bacon, in
a statement.
A more formal, militarywide policy on what should and shouldn't be put on
the Web is in the works, added department spokesman Susan Hansen.
Winkler said it is ill-advised to post things such as personnel lists or
commanders' biographies -- which often include family information -- on the
Web. He also recommended against companies posting similar information
about corporate officers.
In fact, some companies already restrict the data they post about
personnel and even product pricing -- although the concern is less about
terrorists and more about competitors.
"We're in the process now, as I believe many private companies are, of
trying to sort out what the right balance is between providing useful
information and providing more information than is necessary," Bacon said.
Copyright � 1998 Computerworld, Inc.
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