No-orkutting for army men
They say nothing is personal in the cyber world. Everyone
and anyone is vulnerable and can be hacked. Taking a cue, the Indian Army
recently issued a circular asking its personnel not to post work-related
information like ranks, place of posting etc on social networking sites like
Orkut and Facebook.
'With uploading of such information
while opening an e-mail account or on their (networking) profiles the personnel
put their own safety and national security in danger,' the official said. The
army estimates that nearly 35,000 of its 1.1 million soldiers, from all ranks,
are active internet users.
'In the circular, the army personnel
have been cautioned that in case they do not abide by the rules, disciplinary
action will be taken against them,' the official added. A soldier violating
'good order and discipline' rules under the Army Act can be imprisoned for a
term up to seven years.
Networking sites attract millions of
users and have a huge appeal across all sections of society especially among
the youth. Generally in a bid to show off their credentials, young officers
give away professional details, the official said.
The army has also asked the defence
institutions to provide its men information on cyber security and list out do's
and don'ts of Internet use.
'If an engineer, doctor and lawyer
can write what his profession is why can't an armed forces personnel do so.
However, one should not give other details like area of posting and nature of
work,' a young officer said, on condition of anonymity.
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