Comm. hosts annual security awareness day

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Nathan Van Loon
  • 319th Communications Squadron
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Recently, the 319th Communications Squadron hosted a security awareness day here, seeking to raise the level of vigilance among wing personnel regarding the protection of information assets on base.

The annual event took place at the base theater, and included several experts who briefed the importance of guarding sensitive and classified material they may come in contact with. They stressed the fact that while personnel are certainly permitted to discuss non-classified aspects of their job through e-mail, back-and-forth discussions may quickly enter the realm of "For Official Use Only" or become classified once the information from a trail of e-mails is compounded and put together.

"It's important that members of our wing recognize that there are, in fact, people who are watching, listening, and monitoring the things we do," said Master Sgt. Kory Sola, the 319th Air Refueling Wings Information Assurance Noncommissioned Officer-in-Charge. "There is always the potential for someone to misuse data gathered through a seemingly non-threatening solicitation or unintentional release due to innocent public conversation."

While people often expect security to be compromised in a glamorous, Hollywood spy-type way, Sergeant Sola says that is not the way it usually happens. 

"It is much easier for our would-be adversaries to find someone who will give up critical information unknowingly, either through careless words or poor data protection, than it is for them to work around the layers of safeguards the military already has in place," he said. "Just because we know something to be unclassified does not mean that we should freely volunteer that information to those who do not have a specific need-to-know. With the rise of social networking sites and blogs, we distribute dangerous amounts of information on a daily basis that is accessible by the entire world. To a trained analyst, that information can be a gold mine." 

The federal government has placed a renewed emphasis on protecting personal data covered under the Privacy Act of 1974. While not widely considered sensitive information, it is unlawful for a person to access, share, or distribute an individual's private data - to include social security numbers, as well as medical and financial records - without a specific work-related purpose or explicit authorization. When working with this information, basic protection measures such as email encryption must be used. 

Conversely, base network users should also pay special attention to the new Department of Defense-wide notice and consent banner user agreement that appears whenever they log-on to the Air Force Portal. This announcement makes it clear that users should not typically expect information they communicate through their base computer to remain private or privileged. All computers on the base network are subject to routine monitoring, and the government may inspect or seize data stored on computers at any time without a criminal or counterintelligence search authorization. 

If you have any questions regarding security awareness, Privacy Act guidelines, or the new notice and consent banner, please contact the base's Information Assurance office at 747-6158.