What if Twitter were a Terrorist tool?
Gizmodo and the Danger Room, reported today that government agencies are worried of the potential of terrorist organizations to use sites like twitter to coordinate terror strikes.
Twitter would of course make an easy anonymous platform for members of Hezbollah or Al Quaida to coordinate some sort of suicide bombing.
Each person would just need a phone, laptop, or other mobile device with access to a mobile or wifi network.
Army intelligence has come up with a few scenarios that a terrorist organization could utilize social network sites like twitter, as well as other cellphone features and programs.
Some of the topics brought up in the report include: Using mobile phone camera’s to monitor ‘the enemy’; Using the gps of some mobile phones for markmanship, border crossings, etc…; The installation of voice modification software to disguise the voice of would be terrorists.
The presentation also looking into a discussion on how militants may pair mobile applications with Twitter to expand their resources.
Similar to the way Twitter was used as a countersurveillance tool by activists during the Republican National Convention, the activists tweeted about the movement of Local Law Enforcement in real-time.
The presentation lays out three major scenarios.
Scenario 1: Terrorists send messages back and forth, regarding how, where, and number of troops that are moving around, in order to conduct an ambush.
Scenario 2: Terrorists uses mobile phone to signal remote explosive devices, or to coordinate remote detonation by a third party based on near real-time movement and imagery.
Scenario 3: Cyber terrorists find a U.S. soldiers Twitter account, he gains information from the soldier, and uses the information for identity theft, hacking, and possible physical attacks. This scenario could play out any and all major social networks…
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The bottom line is that everyone, not just military service members or government officials, needs to observe OPerational SECurity or OPSEC.
The Ten OPSEC Points everyone should observe are:
Don’t discuss current or future destinations, ports of call, or bases.
Don’t discuss current or future operations or missions.
Don’t discuss current or future dates and times of exercises or missions.
Don’t discuss readiness issues and numbers.
Don’t discuss specific training equipment.
Don’t discuss people’s names, military occupation or operations.
Don’t speculate about current or future operations.
Don’t spread rumors about current, future, or past operations or movements.
Don’t assume the enemy is not trying to collect information on you; they are.
Be smart, use your head, and always think OPSEC when using email, phone, social media etc