Russia has been targeting the phones of individual NATO soldiers in countries like Poland, according to sources speaking with The Wall Street Journal. The hacking has led to compromised smartphones and social media accounts, with some soldiers reporting a loss of contacts.
It appears the hackers, who are likely linked to the Russian government, have also been grabbing data from the devices.
Due to the technical nature of this attack and the sophistication of the implicated tools, Russia itself is being blamed rather than independent hackers.
Part of this operation appears to revolve around intimidation. Soldiers have been randomly approached by strangers who’ve proceeded to tell them details about their personal lives.
Because of issues like these, soldiers in Estonia can’t use their smartphones during operations. And in some other situations, soldiers have taken the SIM cards from their phones.
