TO: ALL WEST VIRGINIA ARES MEMBERS (OFFICIAL)
ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE (INFORMATION)
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM WV SECTION EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED
WV ARES BULLETIN NR 08.46 DATE: November 16, 2008
SUBJECT: DON'T TELL IT ALL
At a disaster drill a few years ago it was brought to light how much information could be acquired from the Internet. The disaster drill facilitator talked about information that could be sensitive, and could allow someone to cripple your ability to perform your assigned job.
Information such as Non-published telephone numbers on membership rosters, exact locations of key people in your organization, or where you keep important supplies should never be placed on your Web Page for just everyone to see. One public safety organization even gave the Latitude and Longitude, of all their buildings and radio towers. Even though this information might be available through other means, it shouldn't be made easy to get, by someone who wants to disrupt your communications. Only information such as how to join your organization, the basics of what your organization does, your by-laws, membership forms, and who to contact would be alright for the whole world to see. But, don't put information which could cause you headaches later.
To determine if the information you will be letting the world see will cause you problems, you need to think like a bad guy. Ask yourself "How can I disrupt this organization's way of doing business?" If you can think of a way to mess things up, you can bet that someone else will think of it too. Don't make it easy for someone to give you problems, don't publish sensitive information where it can be seen and used against you.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
Wood County WV
WV ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
WV ARES District 3 Emergency Coordinator