Soldiers breach security of UK’s most sensitive nuclear bases by posting their runs on Strava
UK soldiers have inadvertently given away their location with an app that many people use every day.
Many people into running choose to log their progress using Strava, a health and fitness app that tracks your workouts and builds up a picture of your runs.
It can certainly be a helpful technological tool for people who are trying to keep track of how far they've come, as a motivator - or to post and show off your progress.
But, like with many apps, Strava also shares data, and while this may not be a security concern for a civilian, for someone in the army it's a very different scenario.
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Unfortunately, some staff have accidentally breached the security of a military base by logging their runs on the app.
Staff at a major UK military base in Northwood have been publicly sharing their runs, giving away the base.
In one group, the i Paper even reported that it was called 'Security Breach' as members joked about their runs.
The locations of the bases are not themselves kept secret, however sharing the information on Strava could pose other risks.
This could be leaving networks open to attack, risking the leaking of military operations, as well as exposing sensitive personal information about staff who are working at the site.
Sharing such information about the individuals working there could in turn lead to things like blackmail or extortion.
An investigation by the i Paper was able to even identify individuals like submariners, who can work as part of the UK's nuclear deterrent, and their families just by looking at their posts on Strava.
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, who was also a British Army officer, has slammed the use of the app by people in high-security jobs in a post on social media, writing: "I stopped using Strava when I became an MP and I locked down my profile for that. The app has numerous features to enable you to keep your data private.
"It is beggars belief that our armed forces don’t have a grip of this given the current, and very real, threat posted by sub-threshold activity from our adversaries."
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson has said in a statement: "We take the security of our personnel very seriously and keep guidance for them under constant review."
The UK military is not the only one which has been impacted by using the fitness app.
French personnel have also seen similar problems when a crew member accidentally revealed the location of an aircraft carrier by posting their runs on the deck on Strava.
The staff member had logged a 4.3 mile run by doing laps of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, revealing the vessel's position.
Kit Roberts