UK: Spooks and techies to be vetted for their online networks

"I found this article interesting for my Information Sharing discussions. There is a trade-off between security and sharing and this article adds some thoughts to the discussion". Andrea

[from the register.co.uk]

Be careful who your online friends are, as they could well damage your career. That is the slightly chilling warning sent to us this week by a reader who works at a senior level providing IT support on a range of Government projects.

He writes: "I'm not clear on what the official line is on Facebook regarding vetting but we are being told to remove ourselves from social networking sites if we are going to Developed Vetting (DV or Positive Vetting) clearance. I think this is mainly because the interviewers are asking candidates to justify their relationship with everyone on their 'friends' list".

He adds: "Social engineering is a complicated art for the boys south of the river and I don't profess to understand all of their knowledge/paranoia. Next they'll be going through our address books. I understand they need to be cautious about who they allow access to top level information but I think there are better ways of establishing trust than this."