Warning from cybersecurity expert: Smartphones should be banned for TAF personnel in critical areas

News of 12 martyrs came from the Claw-Lock operation region in 2 days. Especially on the first day, the circulation of the martyrs' names on social media before an official statement was made sparked a debate on border security. Drawing attention to the posts made by some personnel on duty in border security, Cybersecurity Expert Ersin Çahmutoğlu said, “Not only TikTok, but also Instagram and others should be banned for TAF members in critical duties and areas! In fact, even the use of smartphones should be prohibited.”

THERE ARE RANKED OFFICERS BROADCASTING LIVE!

Cybersecurity Expert Ersin Çahmutoğlu touched upon the vulnerabilities that the use of social media by military personnel serving in border regions would create in terms of intelligence. Stating that some personnel are broadcasting live, Çahmutoğlu wrote the following in his statement on his social media account:

"The Ministry of National Defense must take steps against the TikTok danger as soon as possible! Following my post yesterday, someone from TikTok's live broadcast moderation team reached out to me today. According to the information provided, there are many TAF personnel soldiers who have been broadcasting live in recent months. In fact, at the very moment he was writing to me, he said a soldier was broadcasting live in the rural area of Yüksekova, Hakkari. Most of the soldiers who broadcast are on duty in critical places such as operation fields and cross-border base areas. There are even ranked officers among them! This is a huge problem! The places they are in are clearly visible in the broadcasts they make. Anyone doing open-source intelligence (OSINT) can see it. Even though I don't have a TikTok account, I can see these by searching with simple keywords. There are even those who record and share transit activities in rural areas on TikTok. Almost the equipment can be seen clearly! Terrorist organizations also see the locations and equipment where these broadcasts are made! Where is Opsec? Why do these soldiers, including high-ranking officers, not pay any attention at all? I personally looked at some of the broadcasts. Almost half of them were made for the purpose of impressing the opposite sex. As for the others, in my opinion, they have no purpose at all!"

Çahmutoğlu also criticized the 'Photo in uniform in memory of our martyrs' campaign started on Instagram:

"Such a campaign has also started on Instagram! It has been seen that those on active duty are also posting in this campaign. I guess no one is thinking about the dangers that these posts, which seem simple and are made for entertainment purposes, will cause. In summary, not only TikTok, but also Instagram and others should be banned for TAF members in critical duties and areas! In fact, even the use of smartphones should be prohibited!

We have seen once again that there are very serious risks for military personnel to use social media in sensitive/critical duty regions in Turkey! I learned from the messages I received that some soldiers are also making live broadcasts with various applications such as Instagram and the dating app Azar. Some of these broadcasts, where the 360-degree surroundings can be seen, were made from critical border regions! Are we aware of the magnitude of the danger? And that's not all!"

Çahmutoğlu also gave examples from the Russia-Ukraine war regarding the dangers of using social media during operations:

"The threat is not just TikTok, Instagram, etc.! There are other applications too! Let me show you two examples on this subject; In 2022, mercenaries of the Russian Wagner group took photos showing their bases in Ukraine and shared them via a social media tool. The Ukrainian army bombed the bases, whose locations were easily detected with OSINT, before long. The other example is from 2023; pro-Russian Chechen militants shared content from their training camps during operations against Ukraine. Before long, those regions were also bombed. The scale of the threat is that big!

Now let's come to the other threat; there is an application called Strava. This application, which also has users from Turkey, tracks all the places visited during walking, running, etc., and then saves them as a heat map. Think about the dangers that could arise if this data in the application falls into the hands of intelligence services or terrorist organizations through hackers! There have been some leaks on this subject. In past years, the locations of US military bases in Syria and Afghanistan were exposed because of American soldiers using the application. Again, a few years ago, a soldier at a naval base in Scotland, UK, where nuclear submarines are located, entered and exited this base many times while using the application. The application in question recorded all the soldier's movements in a way that the base's boundaries were visible. As can be seen, the issue is smartphones and smart devices themselves. In sensitive regions, whether cross-border or not, smartphones pose a great danger in critical fields! Content and broadcasts that can violate operational security (opsec) can openly present information such as locations, equipment, and units to terrorist organizations and foreign services. Maximum attention is required for such elements that are a threat to national security!"

News Source: 12punto