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4 naval officers leak confidential info on social media, face action
Jan 26, 2012, 05.06AM IST
NEW DELHI: Four naval officers are in the dock after they were reportedly found divulging information about the location of warships and other confidential data on social networking websites, which was even being accessed by foreign nationals.
Stringent action, including dismissal from service, has been apparently recommended against the four commander-rank officers (equivalent to Lt-Colonels in Army) by a Board of Inquiry (BoI) at the Mumbai-based Western Naval Command (WNC), the Indian Navy's premier command that controls most of the country's frontline warships, including aircraft carrier INS Viraat, say sources.
The four officers were being tracked for quite some time by naval authorities for allegedly leaking confidential information, including location of warships, armaments being carried by them and their patrolling patterns, say sources.
Despite being contacted, both the Navy HQ in New Delhi as well as the WNC, Mumbai, refused to answer the queries.
This is the second such case being kept under the wraps by the WNC within the last 30 days. As earlier reported by TOI, a young naval officer Bipin Kumar had drowned after his commanding officer on the guided-missile stealth frigate INS Talwar had asked him to jump overboard as part of a harsh training drill.
Over the last few years, the armed forces have been regularly asking their officers, through regular circulars and alerts, not to post service-related matters on the social websites like Facebook and Orkut, fearing leakage of sensitive information to enemy forces.
"It's a question of national security. The officers could be misled online to divulge information that is not in the public domain, like the exact location of a battalion or some other unit. Information security is central to matters military," said a senior officer.
While the military authorities may have repeatedly issued instructions that violation of Internet usage rules may invite strict disciplinary action, including imprisonment, the fact is many service officers are quite active on the Internet and social networking sites.
4 naval officers leak confidential info on social media, face action - The Times of India
Jan 26, 2012, 05.06AM IST
NEW DELHI: Four naval officers are in the dock after they were reportedly found divulging information about the location of warships and other confidential data on social networking websites, which was even being accessed by foreign nationals.
Stringent action, including dismissal from service, has been apparently recommended against the four commander-rank officers (equivalent to Lt-Colonels in Army) by a Board of Inquiry (BoI) at the Mumbai-based Western Naval Command (WNC), the Indian Navy's premier command that controls most of the country's frontline warships, including aircraft carrier INS Viraat, say sources.
The four officers were being tracked for quite some time by naval authorities for allegedly leaking confidential information, including location of warships, armaments being carried by them and their patrolling patterns, say sources.
Despite being contacted, both the Navy HQ in New Delhi as well as the WNC, Mumbai, refused to answer the queries.
This is the second such case being kept under the wraps by the WNC within the last 30 days. As earlier reported by TOI, a young naval officer Bipin Kumar had drowned after his commanding officer on the guided-missile stealth frigate INS Talwar had asked him to jump overboard as part of a harsh training drill.
Over the last few years, the armed forces have been regularly asking their officers, through regular circulars and alerts, not to post service-related matters on the social websites like Facebook and Orkut, fearing leakage of sensitive information to enemy forces.
"It's a question of national security. The officers could be misled online to divulge information that is not in the public domain, like the exact location of a battalion or some other unit. Information security is central to matters military," said a senior officer.
While the military authorities may have repeatedly issued instructions that violation of Internet usage rules may invite strict disciplinary action, including imprisonment, the fact is many service officers are quite active on the Internet and social networking sites.
4 naval officers leak confidential info on social media, face action - The Times of India
