Uses drones and antennas: the Russian Federation spies for NATO military through phones - The Times
According to media reports, radio -electronic wrestling units (HRS) that participated in the training stated the threat of withdrawal of "personal contact data from close to NATO phones". In addition, Russian cyberattacks in the Baltic and Poland are aimed at obtaining operational information, assessing the number of troops and intimidating servicemen. For espionage, Russians use complex reconnaissance drones as well as portable antennas.
Earlier, in 2017, at Tapa's military base near the border of Estonia with Russia, several soldiers complained about "strange things" that happened with their phones, such as the disappearance of contacts, shortly before the arrival of the French and British military. As it turned out, the Russians used a portable mobile antenna to access phones in the area, intercepting the data sent from the devices and erasing information from them.
After this incident, new rules for using phones for soldiers were introduced. In particular, military-stated military cards should be removed from their devices and using the Internet only in safe places. Estonian soldiers were forced to jump into the lake during operations to make sure that they adhere to the prohibition of telephone and did not carry gadgets with them. British forces on the basis also took the necessary measures.
At the time of exercises, they should leave their phones in "blocks" (rooms). Rules for British soldiers are also forbidden to publish details on their work on social networks, which can be used by criminals, terrorists or potential enemies. It is also forbidden to use geotaging. "We should not cherish illusions - Russia will watch us while we are preparing, unfolding and acting in Europe. This is good, that's the whole point of this deployment.
But it will mean a strict approach to things such as the use of mobile phones," - said Lieutenant Colonel Grant Brown during the Steadfast Defender 2024 exercises. It's about using cards and compasses instead of GPS. One of the Air Squaders of the British Army, who participates in the Estonian city of Nurmsi, told the publication that the danger was to obtain data on geolocation, as well as personal contact data from the military.
According to him, it also happened during a campaign in Afghanistan. "They just try to use any tools available to them," he said. According to the publication, Russian officials deny that the Russian Federation is carrying out cyber -attacks on the personal devices of NATO military devices.
At the same time, the sources of journalists in intelligence reported that the Main Intelligence Administration (GRU) of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation recruits extremists for terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom and other countries of the Alliance. We will remind, according to Bloomberg of May 9, mercenaries made a series of sabotage in Western Europe.