A few years ago, the DOD (Department of Defense) notified our troops that they had to stop using certain apps (such as Strava) on their fitbit trackers. They made it way too easy for terrorists to see where we were stationing troops; more importantly, it made it way too easy to attack them, knowing that information.
Which is why Ukraine wanted to be supplied special radios for their troops. So, that they couldn’t be traced. Once TheDonald stopped blocking the supply of the Ukrainian Army (attempting to put pressure on Zelenskyy to capitulate to his demands to track actions of Hunter Biden, among other Deromcrats), we were able to provide them secure L3Harris radios to effect communications among their armed services. These devices are not easily jammed nor tracked.
Not so with the Russian army. As a matter of fact, most of their fancy radio equipment was either retained in Russia or hacked by the Ukrainians. Because the Ukrainian resistance to the invasion also allowed the capture of the Russian Krasukha-4 array- which was reverse engineered by the Ukrainian army. So, the Russian army resorted to using cellphones.
These cellphones are easily tracked and hacked, since they broadcast their signals to nearby communication towers. As such, the location of the users, as well as their telephone conversations, were easily monitored. (This sort of hacking is used extensively by American police forces to track criminals and for missing person cases.)
And, that’s exactly how Ukrainian forces have been able to locate and kill 12 Russian Generals.
The problem is that the civilians (aka, volunteers) who are part of the Ukrainian militias fighting the Russians are also use cellphones for communications. Which lets the Russians pick up their signals and attack them. Just like our DOD ban on smartphones and smart watches on the battlefield, the Ukrainian militias need to take heed and use more secure communication systems.
But, the Ukrainians are going one step beyond tracking. Once they have the smartphone metadata (caller and recipient phone numbers), they bombard the troops with propaganda. The goal is to demoralize the Russian troops. And, the Russians are doing the same to the Ukrainian militia- more than 5000 text messages have been transmitted, attempting to induce them to surrender.
Welcome to the new battlefield tactics.
Um. Wow. War and technology definitely aren’t a good fit. I would recommend that we stick to modern methods of communication, which work better with diplomacy, as opposed to war.
I don’t think Ukraine voted for war- it had to react to the aggression of Russia, Alice.
Very interesting on the tracking!
As long as you are not in a field of combat, Martha!
No matter where, your post proves that we need the right technology to turn the tide in our favor, else we lose…
It is both amazing and scary as to how technology can be used for and against us, and I am learning each day to use it a little more wisely and smartly
Well said, Vidya. I’m with you.