Security is a valid reason to block sites, however the list would have to be much more extensive in order to be viable to block security concerns..

@Dan

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I have to disagree with what you’re saying though… Any troops that have access to Army computers… regardless if it’s recreation or work related… should have proper training in usage and security. The only exception would be if this was a bank of computers setup as a make-shift cyber cafe for soldiers overseas… those would be public and available with out training, however proper security should be in place…

From the sounds of the memo… the PCs in question are “work PCs” and if that’s the case then any soldier who is touching them should have training, whether or not they are working with them regularly… The same is true if PC s are made available for personal use and are not securely segmented from the rest of the network.

I’m sure the Army is overwhelmed keeping soldiers alive, however with modern war, cyber warfare is more and more common and because of this basic computer “common sense” should be included in every soldiers training.

I wanted to clarify what I meant.

I understand the extreme value of security awareness training – check our June issue for a very comprehensive story on that very topic – and I believe all Army personnel who work with computers as part of their duty requirement in Iraq should receive ample security training.

I’m talking about the thousands of other troops who aren’t reguarly working with computers and only use them for their personal use, like visiting a site such as MySpace.

Sure, they should receive the security basics when they enter the Army, but some things are just easier to cut off entirely – like blocking MySpace – than to try to teach.

The Army is, I’m sure, so overwhelmed with keeping soldiers alive that I don’t believe it should be a top priority to train soldiers not to click on potentially malicious links, etc. Again, I’m talking about those soldiers who use the web merely to email and surf sites.

And I claim to be no expert when it comes to ways to improve bandwidth. You mention implementing QoS. I know the Army is encouraging soldiers to use cybercafes and other PCs not connected to the DoD network. I’m sure there’s a lot of alternatives out there – I’m not claiming to be the one with the answers.

But yes, security controls are really not a valid reason. For every myspace or 1.fm or photobucket site out there, there are 50 more alternatives. Security of endsystems from nastiness is also not a great reason as any corporation of any size can tell you.

And let’s face it. If any of us have talked to servicemen and women while deployed, especially in a desert area, they really do have a lot of time on their hands and boredom is a factor. They will find ways to get around the blocks or use alternative services.

An unspoken reason may be trying to save the military from embarassing gaffes such as posting inappropriate or embarassing content in the form of photos and videos.

Oh, and I also don’t know many of those sites listed, but I’m fairly confident in saying I bet there’s only junk on them that I’m not really missing out on!