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By: FEDweek StaffGAO has called for additional attention to protecting the personal information of DoD civilian and military personnel, saying that even with current restriction on their online activity, they “leave behind massive amounts of traceable data that can be collected and aggregated by the public, data brokers, and malicious actors.”
“These data, in the aggregate, can undermine national security and pose significant security, privacy, and safety risks,” a witness told a Senate Armed Service subcommittee hearing. On the personal side, there are risks of tracking patterns of behavior and family details while on the operational side there are risks to disclosure of real-time information about military activities and the movements of personnel, he said.
He cited as an example an “Army official traveling to a high-profile military conference downloaded a video game for their child to use during their travel. However, the application had extensive access to sensitive information and functions on the official’s phone, including location, credit card, contacts, camera and microphone, SMS messages, and network access.”
In a preview of an upcoming report, he noted that existing policies include a prohibition against civilian, military and contractor personnel using personal email or other nonofficial accounts to exchange official information; mandatory annual cybersecurity training; and the use of posters and other awareness documents to help employees understand how to keep their identities private and secure online.
However, he said that those efforts focus primarily on operational security and not on reducing the risk that personal information will be revealed.
He said the upcoming report will make recommendations that DoD (also called the Department of War) reassess the existing policies and training “to ensure that digital profile issues are considered in all security areas”; improve collaboration among its components; and ensure that they are conducting required security assessments. He said that management agreed with 11 of the 12 specific recommendations.
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