Loose Lips Sink Ships

Loose lips sink ships “…originated on propaganda posters during World War II. The phrase was created by the War Advertising Council and used on posters by the United States Office of War Information.” [Source: Wikipedia] It’s meaning was to convey that servicemen in World War II, and citizens need to be careful about what information they divulge to whom as it may affect war efforts. The same was held true for American citizens. [Source: Wikipedia]

What we’re talking about in this article is related to social media posts, specifically what you publish about others and posts others make about you. While these communications may be harmless, the information can add up to a potential compromise of you or the other person.  Things are more serious if both parties are making posts that are damaging to the other party.

Things we have observed, in general as well as with with clients, are spouses, family members, friends, and loved ones making posts that, over time, compromise the privacy of the other person. For example, extended family of spouses posting information about the couple’s birthdays and maybe even tagging them in photos at their home. If an identity thief sees this they have some information to go on such as name, date of birth, and physical location. This information will help the bad actor in compromising your identity.

Spouses of military members may give information where their better half works, or worked, locations they have lived, and people they work(ed) with. This would allow an adversary of the U.S. the opportunity to gather information from social media intelligence.

From a business point of view, an employee may accidentally, or intentionally, upload internal documents to social media, or take pictures/video of the office where sensitive documents are seen in the image or recording.  This information is valuable to a malicious actor.

The bottom line is to be aware of what you are sharing about other people and how that information can affect them.  For businesses, it’s important to ensure you have control over your data.

Whether you’re a business or a person, contact us now to learn how we can help find that ship sinking information before you have to get all hands on deck to bail the water out of your sinking boat.