The military is on alert after receiving a joint bulletin from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security about the need for personnel to avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria on social media, ABC News reports.
The bulletin, first obtained by ABC News, issues a strong warning about the use of social media, namely that ISIS is combing through accounts to find useful information in the planning and execution stages of attacks.
“The FBI and DHS recommend that current and former members of the military review their online social media accounts for any information that might serve to attract the attention of ISIL [ISIS] and its supporters,” the federal bulletin said.
The Department of Defense issued a similar warning directly after the murder of Canadian soldiers in Ottawa by followers of ISIS. Additionally, an Army intelligence bulletin in October arrived as a result of ISIS saying that supporters need to delve deep into social media, in order to find the addresses of personnel and family members. Once found, supporters should “show up [at their homes] and slaughter them.”
Many in the military have already taken action long before the bulletin arrived on their desks, scrubbing their Facebook accounts of personal information, or simply shutting them down. Security precautions make it difficult for ISIS to obtain personal information and learn about the identities of potential targets.
Officials meanwhile are concerned that future “copycat” attacks may even take place without direct contact between ISIS and perpetrators within the United States and Canada, similar to the events which transpired in Ottawa.
“It’s advice to be vigilant,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said regarding the bullet, although he reaffirmed that there was nothing particularly new about the latest bulletin and was unaware of any recent developments which might have prompted the update. “There’s an enemy out there [and] that enemy has made very clear that they seek to make harm to Americans so this advisory was to ensure that you’re taking all appropriate cautions for individual force protection.”
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