The key facts

  • A British Army corporal received 10 months in military prison and a demotion
  • The cause was a phone hack during NATO's Eastern Warrior exercises in Estonia
  • Who was behind the hack has not been established

Sentence for violating phone security rules

British Army corporal Daniel Barton-Kennedy has been sentenced to ten months in military prison and demoted after his phone was hacked during NATO's Eastern Warrior exercises in Estonia. This is reported by the British publication The i Paper.

How the hack happened

Before deployment to the exercises, the command required service members to remove SIM cards from their phones, disable geolocation, and use a secure VPN connection. Barton-Kennedy failed to comply with the order to remove his SIM card, and attackers took advantage of this: they gained access to his intimate photos, found the corporal on social media, and began blackmailing him. Who exactly was behind the hack has not been established.

Context of cyberattacks around the exercises

Gazeta.Ru cites a related incident: hackers previously gained access to surveillance cameras along NATO military routes in order to track arms shipments to Ukraine. Many cameras proved vulnerable due to simple passwords and outdated software, and Dutch intelligence services suggest possible involvement of Russian hackers. The publication also mentions a case where intimate photos helped Russian hackers determine the location of a Ukrainian Armed Forces brigade; no such claims have been made regarding involvement in the corporal's phone hack.