In the run up to the 5th annual conference on
Social Media within the Defence and Military Sector taking place on 19th and 20th November in London, SMi Group spoke with event sponsors and location based search leaders Echosec, about the deployment of social media in military operations.
Quietly, Echosec has become an indispensable resource for law-enforcement agencies and media outlets looking for instantaneous information on global events. What began just last year as a simple social media search engine staffed by just four employees is now a 14-person operation ? catering to the sort of people who spend countless hours monitoring the social media posts of Islamic State fighters and Russian soldiers.*
With a focus on social data, Echosec CEO Karl Swannie, will give a talk at the Social Media Military show when it returns to London next month in a presentation entitled: The Value of Social Data on the Ground. The address will discuss effective methods for gathering critical intelligence and monitoring incidents in real-time to deliver actionable knowledge to law enforcement, security, and intelligence professionals.
When asked if he agreed with those who argue about geotagging being a security risk, he said:
?If you work in an area that has a physical fence around it, you likely need a digital fence.?
?Geotagging is not a security risk for most social application users. It can be incredibly beneficial for witnessing and sharing events around the world. It can be used, for example, to help break news, virtually explore areas of the world and to save lives.?
?It is a major risk for workplaces that work with secure and confidential information. Accidental, or intentional, information leaks are a constant concern high security organizations. People will always be your weakest link. Even if they have a confidentiality agreement in place, if they accidentally take a picture of a password or schematic with their morning ?selfie? it is incredibly hard to find and remove that information. The shocking thing for Echosec, is how much information we find in places that we never expected. Most industrial and military facilities continually release information to the public sphere that we would deem very dangerous, if not illegal.?
On what he believed to be the benefits of geo-tagging, he commented:
?Everyone can bear witness to what is happening around them. It?s fascinating when you have a look at your photos/videos and see the exact location where you took them - a mapped timeline of your favourite moments. It also means that when you want to experience an event anywhere, in the world, you can simply look at the geotagged posts from people who are actually there and see it from several perspectives. ?
The full interview is available to read in the conference
download center.
Other highlights on the agenda for
Social Media within the Defence and Military Sector 2015 include:
? A special guest address from Senior
Israel Defence Forces spokesperson
? An opening keynote from the British Army's
77th Brigade Manager of Digital Content and Recruitment, Mick Latter
? A newly added presentation on the radicalization and recruitment processes used by extremist groups by Brigadier General (ret?d) Mark Goldblatt, Founder and CEO of
Cycurity Vision? Best practise into building a
successful campaign from Social Media Trainer and Consultant, Zoe Cairns
? Insight into creating meaningful
content by the Director of Social Engagement at SHRM, Andrew Morton
? An update on
NATO's digital outreach from the Head of Communication Services, Steven Mehringer
?
Strategic guidance on effective target group engagement and integrating paid/owned/learned digital content marketing from the Global Communications Manager of Social Media and Content at Saab
? Key considerations for deploying social media effectively across defence provided by
Hootsuite? A look into the social media
tactics deployed by the
United States Army and DoD from Lieutenant Colonel Juanita Chang
A programme and full speaker line-up is available at
www.military-socialmedia.com Social Media within the Defence and Military Sector
19-20 November 2015
Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, London UK
Follow the conversation on Twitter at
#milsocialmedia* Source:http://bit.ly/1jSKtjr
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About SMi Group:
Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries. We pride ourselves on having access to the world?s most forward thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. More information can be found at http://www.smi-online.co.uk