Social Media and OPSEC / An Analysis through Sociology of Security

Abstract

When virtual social relations and online interactions have increased in our age media also had a transformation. Social media is a phenomenon which came with wide usage of internet by modern society and individuals. On the one hand it has created opportunities for a more democratic way of communication, participation and dialogue between members of different socio-cultural groups, communities, friends and family members, colleagues, Etc.; on the other hand this new version of media has caused criminal risks, security gaps and vulnerabilities to contemporary threats varied from fraud to cyber-attacks, terrorism, identity theft, ransomwares and so on. Even “old types” of crimes in real life can begin from social media and virtual reality. All these problems are related to several subdisciplines of sociology: sociology of communication, sociology of crime, sociology of security are among them. In this paper we will analyze the topic though sociology of security’s prism. Also, we will discuss what can be the functionality of OPSEC as a measure, which has military background and widely used later on by civilian sectors including corporate security as well.