yep! them there tali-boys are all smart, like...
Taliban Pose as Pretty Women on Facebook to Obtain Military Secrets
A recent review of the Australian military found that its soldiers might
be spilling secrets to pretty women they meet online -- and that these
women may be fake profiles set up by the Taliban.
According to ZDNet, The defense report surveyed 1,577 military personnel
and found that 58% have been given no social media training.
In addition to fake profiles set up by the Taliban, the study also warned
of media member's friending of soldiers to find out information.
One feature of Facebook that soldiers should be particularly wary of,
the study says, is the geo-tagging function, which could automatically
reveal the soldier's location every time he or she posted.
The Australian review said:
"Many individuals who use social media are extremely trusting. Most did
not recognize that people using fake profiles, perhaps masquerading as
school friends, could capture information and movements.
Few consider the possibilities of data mining and how patterns of behavior
can be identified over time."
This isn't the first time the military has got into hot water with social media.
Earlier this year, soldiers uploaded pictures of Apache gunship helicopters onto
Facebook, and the pictures were geo-tagged.
As a result, the enemy attacked the location.
"The enemy was able to determine the exact location of the helicopters inside the
compound and conduct a mortar attack, destroying four of the AH-64 Apaches."
the army said earlier this year.
As social media use becomes ever more prevalent, military groups all over the world
will have to do a better job about training their troops to use sites like Facebook
responsibly.
Even ordinary users should keep in mind that everything isn't always as
it seems. Fake profiles and fake business pages are prolific on Facebook,
and there have been countless victims of romance-themed scams on social
networking sites.
