British Soldier on Russian Border Blackmailed, Hacked After Failing to Remove SIM Card

Since the start of the war with Ukraine, Russia has been accused of ramping up cyberattacks and cyber espionage on Western powers, forcing them to ramp up precautions. One British soldier, based near the Russian border in Estonia, recently found out the importance of mobile security the hard way, according to local media reports. Daniel Barton Kennedy, 28, was told to remove all his SIM cards, switch off location settings, and use a trusted virtual private network (VPN) on all personal electronic devices when he was sent to the area for a training exercise. He later approached his platoon commander and told him he had received messages from an unknown party. This party had acquired nude photographs of him from his mobile phone and had identified him on social media, according to the court document reported by Eesti Ekspress and shared with Ars Technica. The soldier had made one payment of $135 (£100) already but had then received a further demand for $335 (£250). According to the court document, the realisation “that this was unlikely to come to an end any time” caused him to seek help from his commanding officer. “Estonia is a NATO frontline state that hosts deployed multinational forces. Military activity in the region is subject to significant interest from Russian intelligence services and other actors seeking to collect information on NATO capabilities, force disposition, activity patterns, and personnel movements,” said Captain Farthing, who is the Intelligence Officer of the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, who implemented the rules. Farthing said that failing to follow the rules could lead to the disclosure of the location of military personnel or equipment, patterns of military activity and movement, and training, operational or readiness activities, adding that this information could assist hostile intelligence collection. The court proceedings did not explicitly state that the hackers in this instance were linked to Russia. Kennedy has been sentenced to ten months in military detention after pleading guilty, and will face a reduced salary and demotion on his return to service. The court filing didn’t go into much detail the type of technology which the hackers may have used. However, a 2017 report by The Wall Street Journal claimed Russian forces used miniature antennae and specialised drones that “can suck up data from mobile devices lacking advanced military encryption” on NATO forces stationed in border countries.

Daniel Barton Kennedy, 28, was told to remove all his SIM cards, switch off location settings, and use a trusted virtual private network (VPN) on all personal electronic devices when he was sent to the area for a training exercise. He later approached his platoon commander and told him he had received messages from an unknown party. This party had acquired nude photographs of him from his mobile phone and had identified him on social media, according to the court document reported by Eesti Ekspress and shared with Ars Technica. The soldier had made one payment of $135 (£100) already but had then received a further demand for $335 (£250). According to the court document, the realisation “that this was unlikely to come to an end any time” caused him to seek help from his commanding officer. “Estonia is a NATO frontline state that hosts deployed multinational forces. Military activity in the region is subject to significant interest from Russian intelligence services and other actors seeking to collect information on NATO capabilities, force disposition, activity patterns, and personnel movements,” said Captain Farthing, who is the Intelligence Officer of the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, who implemented the rules. Farthing said that failing to follow the rules could lead to the disclosure of the location of military personnel or equipment, patterns of military activity and movement, and training, operational or readiness activities, adding that this information could assist hostile intelligence collection. The court proceedings did not explicitly state that the hackers in this instance were linked to Russia. Kennedy has been sentenced to ten months in military detention after pleading guilty, and will face a reduced salary and demotion on his return to service. The court filing didn’t go into much detail the type of technology which the hackers may have used. However, a 2017 report by The Wall Street Journal claimed Russian forces used miniature antennae and specialised drones that “can suck up data from mobile devices lacking advanced military encryption” on NATO forces stationed in border countries.

He later approached his platoon commander and told him he had received messages from an unknown party. This party had acquired nude photographs of him from his mobile phone and had identified him on social media, according to the court document reported by Eesti Ekspress and shared with Ars Technica. The soldier had made one payment of $135 (£100) already but had then received a further demand for $335 (£250). According to the court document, the realisation “that this was unlikely to come to an end any time” caused him to seek help from his commanding officer. “Estonia is a NATO frontline state that hosts deployed multinational forces. Military activity in the region is subject to significant interest from Russian intelligence services and other actors seeking to collect information on NATO capabilities, force disposition, activity patterns, and personnel movements,” said Captain Farthing, who is the Intelligence Officer of the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, who implemented the rules. Farthing said that failing to follow the rules could lead to the disclosure of the location of military personnel or equipment, patterns of military activity and movement, and training, operational or readiness activities, adding that this information could assist hostile intelligence collection. The court proceedings did not explicitly state that the hackers in this instance were linked to Russia. Kennedy has been sentenced to ten months in military detention after pleading guilty, and will face a reduced salary and demotion on his return to service. The court filing didn’t go into much detail the type of technology which the hackers may have used. However, a 2017 report by The Wall Street Journal claimed Russian forces used miniature antennae and specialised drones that “can suck up data from mobile devices lacking advanced military encryption” on NATO forces stationed in border countries.

The soldier had made one payment of $135 (£100) already but had then received a further demand for $335 (£250). According to the court document, the realisation “that this was unlikely to come to an end any time” caused him to seek help from his commanding officer. “Estonia is a NATO frontline state that hosts deployed multinational forces. Military activity in the region is subject to significant interest from Russian intelligence services and other actors seeking to collect information on NATO capabilities, force disposition, activity patterns, and personnel movements,” said Captain Farthing, who is the Intelligence Officer of the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, who implemented the rules. Farthing said that failing to follow the rules could lead to the disclosure of the location of military personnel or equipment, patterns of military activity and movement, and training, operational or readiness activities, adding that this information could assist hostile intelligence collection. The court proceedings did not explicitly state that the hackers in this instance were linked to Russia. Kennedy has been sentenced to ten months in military detention after pleading guilty, and will face a reduced salary and demotion on his return to service. The court filing didn’t go into much detail the type of technology which the hackers may have used. However, a 2017 report by The Wall Street Journal claimed Russian forces used miniature antennae and specialised drones that “can suck up data from mobile devices lacking advanced military encryption” on NATO forces stationed in border countries.

“Estonia is a NATO frontline state that hosts deployed multinational forces. Military activity in the region is subject to significant interest from Russian intelligence services and other actors seeking to collect information on NATO capabilities, force disposition, activity patterns, and personnel movements,” said Captain Farthing, who is the Intelligence Officer of the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, who implemented the rules. Farthing said that failing to follow the rules could lead to the disclosure of the location of military personnel or equipment, patterns of military activity and movement, and training, operational or readiness activities, adding that this information could assist hostile intelligence collection. The court proceedings did not explicitly state that the hackers in this instance were linked to Russia. Kennedy has been sentenced to ten months in military detention after pleading guilty, and will face a reduced salary and demotion on his return to service. The court filing didn’t go into much detail the type of technology which the hackers may have used. However, a 2017 report by The Wall Street Journal claimed Russian forces used miniature antennae and specialised drones that “can suck up data from mobile devices lacking advanced military encryption” on NATO forces stationed in border countries.

Farthing said that failing to follow the rules could lead to the disclosure of the location of military personnel or equipment, patterns of military activity and movement, and training, operational or readiness activities, adding that this information could assist hostile intelligence collection. The court proceedings did not explicitly state that the hackers in this instance were linked to Russia. Kennedy has been sentenced to ten months in military detention after pleading guilty, and will face a reduced salary and demotion on his return to service. The court filing didn’t go into much detail the type of technology which the hackers may have used. However, a 2017 report by The Wall Street Journal claimed Russian forces used miniature antennae and specialised drones that “can suck up data from mobile devices lacking advanced military encryption” on NATO forces stationed in border countries.

The court proceedings did not explicitly state that the hackers in this instance were linked to Russia. Kennedy has been sentenced to ten months in military detention after pleading guilty, and will face a reduced salary and demotion on his return to service. The court filing didn’t go into much detail the type of technology which the hackers may have used. However, a 2017 report by The Wall Street Journal claimed Russian forces used miniature antennae and specialised drones that “can suck up data from mobile devices lacking advanced military encryption” on NATO forces stationed in border countries.

Kennedy has been sentenced to ten months in military detention after pleading guilty, and will face a reduced salary and demotion on his return to service. The court filing didn’t go into much detail the type of technology which the hackers may have used. However, a 2017 report by The Wall Street Journal claimed Russian forces used miniature antennae and specialised drones that “can suck up data from mobile devices lacking advanced military encryption” on NATO forces stationed in border countries.

The court filing didn’t go into much detail the type of technology which the hackers may have used. However, a 2017 report by The Wall Street Journal claimed Russian forces used miniature antennae and specialised drones that “can suck up data from mobile devices lacking advanced military encryption” on NATO forces stationed in border countries.