Think Before You Tweet, British Ministry Of Defense Warns (VIDEO)

Enemy forces may be reading your tweets.

That's the message of a new British campaign warning against careless social media sharing, especially for military personnel and related family.

"Remember that there may be those who are using such sites for unsavory reasons," the site for the campaign reads. "These range from criminals looking for ways to con you or steal your identity, to those who may wish us harm."

In one of the videos from the series, an elderly mother is shown sharing information on Facebook about her military son, then sitting down to tea with a masked man strapped with bullets. Another video shows two young women officers going out to dance, after using Foursquare and Twitter to broadcast their activities, and are then seen dancing with the same ominous figure.

"You need to be especially careful if you have identified yourself as being a member of the military or an MOD civilian," the site says.

While the site warns that cybercriminals could be waiting in the wings, it also points out the risks associated with posting information regarding troop movements, operational doings, and more.

"We do not want to scare service personnel, families and veterans and we certainly do not want them to stop using social media," a Ministry of Defense spokesperson told BBC News."You don't always know who else is watching in cyberspace."

The Telegraph notes that the campaign recalls similar messages delivered during World War II, such "Loose lips sink ships."

WATCH:

Comments

[cabrobst]

09:25 AM on 06/18/2011

Loose tweets sink fleets

[emrichards]

10:22 PM on 06/17/2011

"We do not wish to scare you, only imply that there is at least one terrorist observing your online life at any give time, who may or may not decide to kill you at a moment's notice."

[fratricide08]

06:20 AM on 06/17/2011

How come it's women who're being warned not to talk? Women officers and mom?

[Sundialsvc4]

06:38 PM on 06/16/2011

I believe that this notion was much better expressed by various World War II posters. "Because Somebody Talked!" and so on.

It really doesn't matter whether you're sending ordinary email, or posting to an online service of your choice ... you should _expect_ that any and every thing that you post _is_ being captured and that it _will_ be captured forever. And subsequently analyzed.

Why? Well, if for no other reason, it allows companies to sell governments billions of dollars' worth of disk drives every year. Vague fears of future liability cause ordinary companies to fill thousands of drives each year with multiple copies of every scrap of "spam" that flows in, "just in case it's actually steganography holding an important message about a secret ter'rist threat." And to put those drives into vaults, again, forever.

What's the REAL threat? No one knows, and the salesmen certainly don't care. We've created a genie and, having done so, there will be an endless market for bottles.

What's the practical advice? Simple. "Think before you post."

[Warren Peace]

01:40 PM on 06/16/2011

Really!! That's all I can say...

[MosesDidItBest]

01:36 PM on 06/16/2011

Loose Tweets sink Twits?

[Channa]

03:35 PM on 06/16/2011

I know of a Congressman who would agree with that.

[Lupernikes]

11:51 AM on 06/16/2011

Hmmmm, a dose of paranoia anyone?

[theveggiedude]

03:52 PM on 06/16/2011

Britain has had 40+ years of terrorism, so I don't think Americans can relate to this.

[Lupernikes]

07:26 PM on 06/16/2011

I'm British and from Northern Ireland and I still think it's excessive......

[Comeplayinmyreality]

11:45 AM on 06/16/2011

"Our carelessness is Their secret weapon" or "He's watching you" - yes reminds me of all the propaganda posters during WWII. My favorite one's are the about the dirty, nasty women carrying all those diseases. too funny