As a current cybersecurity expert and also as a former communications officer who served in the Turkish navy, here is my assessment of Russia’s leak of a German military meeting:
On Friday March 1, Russian state media published a recording of an online call (via Webex) involving four senior German air force officials. They were discussing possible scenarios in Russia’s war in Ukraine. This leak of sensitive military deliberations has sparked diplomatic tensions and raised concern over the cybersecurity of Germany’s military, the Bundeswehr.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Tuesday March 5, dispelled rumors that Russia had directly hacked into the meeting, which was held on the online conferencing platform WebEx. Instead, the call “may have been tapped due to an individual USER ERROR,” and “Our communication systems were not compromised,” he said. Pistorius insisted the incident was a one-off.
To the best of my knowledge, the Bundeswehr uses four levels of classification for confidential information. Only information classified at the lowest level may be discussed over certain encrypted WebEx video and audio calls.
The military communications must be conducted using specific, certified hardware and software, often in a tap-proof environment with a specific cryptography. Even in practice, this means that military and government officials abroad often have to go to an embassy to make such calls.
In a nutshell; when Pistorius’ statements, communication discipline and technical details were brought together, I couldn’t help but think that this leak could be an INSIDER ATTACK…
STAY VIGILANT…!