According to sources, the cell keeps tabs on malicious software, imposters on social media and hackers, primarily to safeguard personnel from fraud, imposters and honey-traps. It carries out random checks of the social media accounts of personnel to monitor them.
Reports indicate Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence has been using ‘honey-traps’ on social media, to entrap army personnel, personnel working in strategic defence establishments and even their family members.
The Army has issued specific guidelines to its personnel on the use of social media, banning the following: viewing pornography on social networking sites, using photos in uniform as profile pictures, exposing official identities or ranks, disclosing unit names and locations, accepting friend requests from unknown persons. Family members are also barred from posting information about their relatives in the military.
Special instructions for personnel and monitoring of their social media accounts followed intelligence reports that Pakistan’s spy agencies are monitoring and profiling India’s defence officers.
In January this year, a soldier in the Indian Army was arrested for passing critical military information to his social media contact from Pakistan. The army man was deceived by an imposter. Similarly, an employee of a critical defence establishment was found to have contacts with Pakistan's intelligence agency the ISI through social media.
