The U.S. Navy advises sailors to protect their electronic devices, social media accounts, and personal information from Iranian cyber threats.
On Monday, April 20th, The Hill reported that in a non-confidential memorandum issued to Navy personnel, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan warned that hostile cyber actors are attempting to psychologically manipulate American soldiers and their families, enticing them to open potentially malicious links and files.
The memorandum issued by the Navy on April 17th stated, “In response to ‘Epic Wrath Operation,’ hostile cyber actors are conducting a social engineering attack, actively targeting U.S. Navy personnel and their families through spear-phishing and social media engagements.”
The Navy also advises sailors to be cautious of applications that encourage or request the use/sharing of personal information, including dating apps, and to be wary of and search for information from strangers attempting to make contact actively, while setting the privacy level of personal social media accounts to the highest setting.
Furthermore, the Navy urges soldiers to clear personal identity information stored in search engines and to disable location tracking, microphone, and camera permissions in mobile applications.
The Navy also requires soldiers to increase the complexity of account passwords or enable multi-factor authentication, pay attention to content posted online, and ask family and friends to limit the sharing of information and photos about them.
Navy notifications require sailors to turn off Bluetooth and wireless network connections when not using a phone or other electronic devices, avoid using public wireless networks, and regularly update applications. Updates typically repair vulnerabilities/defects exploited by network attackers.
The memorandum stated, “If possible, please refrain from posting online content. If unable to refrain, please pay attention to the content you are posting online. Does the background of your photos contain clues about you, your friends/family, your residence, your location, or your activities?”