There are strict rules and regulation for soldiers in the army, airforce, navy and other paramilitary forces when it comes to their presence in social media like Facebook. Recently we have seen lots of mishap where soldiers got honeytrap by ISI agents and confidential details were compromised. In this article you can find what a soldier and their relatives can’t do online and need to be very careful while showing their identity in social media.
In the wake of incidents of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI allegedly using a ‘honeytrap’ strategy on social media to target personnel linked to Indian defence establishment, the Indian Army has issues a 10-point list of do’s and don’ts for its troops and their family members.
The advisory was issued by the General Services (Intelligence) on December 31 after dismissed Air Force official Ranjith K K was arrested on charges of spying and sharing secret documents with the ISI.
Investigations revealed that Ranjith was honey-trapped into espionage by a woman whom he met through Facebook in 2012. Ranjith was allegedly lured into sharing some sensitive details through an attractive picture and a Skype session.
According to reports, Ranjith had shared some technical details of the Air Force, including that of Pathankot, aircraft movement and maps of Air Force stations in Delhi, Chennai and Belgaum. The information was shared with an ISI-backed espionage ring through emails and inter-based text messages.
The latest advisory was sent to all the units, sub-units and formations of the Army to save them from being ensnared through social media.
10 Things Soldiers Can’t Do/Shouldn’t Do Online In Social Media
- Don’t watch porn on Facebook/social networking sites.
- Do not use photo in uniform as profile pic on WhatsApp/Facebook.
- Do not click advertisements on social sites alluring for prizes/awards.
- Do not expose official identity on such sites.
- No uploading of pictures with weapon on such sites even in civil uniform.
- Do not reveal your rank, unit name and location or anything related to your work.
- Do not accept friend request from unknowns.
- Soldiers families should not post/mention their profession on sites.
- Background of any picture should not contain anything related to military.
- Do not store/ save any information related to military in computer/laptops.
Hope these points will be considered by soldiers to prevent any mishap.
