The army has warned its officers and personnel against excessive use of social networking platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp and made it clear that action would be taken in case of violations.

The directive has also instructed them not to make photos in uniform their profile pictures on social networking sites and reveal their rank, unit name, location or anything else related to their work.

“The directive has been issued to limit their (soldiers’) online presence as part of cyber security norms. In the past we have seen how some officers and soldiers were honey-trapped by foreign agencies into inadvertently leaking sensitive information,” said an official at the army headquarters.

The official, however, clarified that there was no ban on the use of social media, and that the directive was aimed at making soldiers aware of the pitfalls of the excessive use of social media.

“Official communications are also being circulated on WhatsApp and there is a possibility of leaks. They (soldiers) have been asked not to circulate any information through social media. Stern action will be taken against those violating the cyber security norms,” the official said.

The officers and personnel have also been directed not to forward or store sensitive data on their electronic devices and also not to open unknown emails and suspicious websites.

“They have been instructed not to indulge in any kind of propaganda spread by some veterans who are critical of the government,” he said.

A section of veterans has been critical of certain policies of the government, including the recent one pertaining to the Centre’s decision to make disability pension taxable, which sparked a debate on social media.

Security agencies have alerted the army top brass about how foreign intelligence agencies are suspected to be using English and Urdu-speaking women to trap army officers and personnel on social media.

The women, who mostly operate on pornographic sites, lure vulnerable officers into sex chats and then blackmail them into parting with classified information.