Private Defense Information taken off Internet. (Security Beat).

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) recently removed the biography of its commanding officer from its public Web site, citing a memorandum by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld. The memo reportedly said that all private information about operational commanders and their staffs must be taken off the Internet.

Numbered fleets and all other expeditionary commands have long kept all biographical information out of the public eye, but DISA, the agency that manages satellites, telephones, and Internet connections, has up until now, not been considered expeditionary.

Though certain organizations and departments within the military services have long subscribed to the policy that no private information should be available on public websites, the practice has never been actively enforced until now, said a Pentagon source.

"You don't want your enemy to have any information about you that could be used against us in a combat situation," he said. "On Defense Department Web sites, it's quite common to say who they are, who their wives are, and where they live." That information could potentially be used in a negative way in a wartime situation, the source explained.