Pentagon to troops: Caution required when using social media

The Defense Department plans to issue a new policy instructing troops not to use certain identifying information when interacting online that might compromise military units or operations, reports NextGov.

The guidance will require troops to use only nonmission-related contact information, such as telephone numbers or postal and e-mail addresses, to establish personal accounts on social media sites, DOD officials said, according to the story.

The policy is being established to help thwart efforts by hackers to glean sensitive work details from social networks by drawing inferences from posts, such as military unit locations, and by breaking into the websites, the story said.