The fact that military personnel and federal workers can access top secret government information is a move that can heighten targeting risk.
Last week, The Telegraph reported that the British Ministry of Defense had told its workforce to remove information about their security clearance from their social networking profiles because of the threat of Chinese espionage.
According to an internal memo from the MoD, if individuals use social networking sites and advertise their security clearance, they are putting their own and their colleagues' security at risk. It is necessary for individuals to remove these details from their social networking profiles.
Several people with high-level security clearance from the U.K. government are still publicizing their level on the professional networking site.
The issue isn't limited to the UK.
Americans use the platform to promote their access to top secret information, according to Fortune.
There are three levels of national security clearances in the U.S. federal government, including those in the military.
A number of the profiles Fortune found were advertising Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance, with individuals who displayed their security clearance status working in a mixture of privatesector and government jobs.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence encourages employees to take a range of steps when it comes to social media.
Taking care about what is posted on social media about their work is one of the steps.
Federal workers were told to never accept online invitations to connect from people they don't know, and to request to connect through other means before accepting them.
The staff was told to review their social media settings to control the amount of information they presented to the public.
Fortune sent requests to connect to a few people who were publicly advertising their active status on their profiles. Almost all of them accepted the request.
Fortune asked the people who accepted the request why they were publicizing their clearances.
According to Indeed, anyone who has this level of clearance has access to highly sensitive information.
It is possible to access sensitive information that is not available to the public if you have aTS/SCI clearance.
This can mean access to data, information or even technology that is only available to those with the appropriate clearance level. National security is one of the types of data that someone with aTS/SCI clearance might access.
The Department of Defense, the Department of State and the CIA can grant the relevant level of security clearance when a job or project requires access to classified national security information.
Some agencies require applicants to take a polygraph test in order to get security clearance. Federal agencies carry out more than 38,000 personnel background checks each year.
While the risk of advertising security clearances on LinkedIn and other social media sites may not be the highest threat, it could still be.
He said that knowing who holds which clearance level and exposure to which data will increase targeting risk. The British Ministry of Defense believes that you can put other people at risk. Ex-colleagues will be exposed and risk increased if you tell them that you worked on sensitive projects.
There was no need for people to advertise their security clearances on social media.
He said that it would increase the threat to the individual and their employers.
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