A scandalous entry from the Territorials. “Priceless knowledge for foreign intelligence services”

On Tuesday morning, a controversial post appeared on the Territorial Defense Forces' Facebook profile. “Who are you? Dear followers of our profile, every day we try to provide you with as much information as possible about our activities. However, we want the published content to be more and more valuable to you. To make this happen, we need to know a little more about you and your expectations,” the entry began.

“Therefore, in the near future we will be asking you for help and participation in a few simple surveys, we are counting on your activity,” it added. They were then asked to leave an appropriate reaction depending on whether they were a soldier (former or current) or a civilian. “Thank you for being with us, together we can do more,” it concluded.

Controversial WOT entry deleted after a few hours. An explanation was posted and it also disappeared

The entry disappeared after about three hours. Then a board appeared saying: “Attention! Our profile has been taken over! Explanatory procedures are ongoing. More in the comment.” “If you are reading this… we want to thank you for your vigilance! It has long been known that online safety depends on each of us – regardless of whether you are a soldier or a civilian,” it was noted in the introduction.

“We constantly share personal data on the Internet, consenting to their use by “third parties”, accepting regulations and signing virtual contracts without reading their content. Living in a digital environment, you can easily let your guard down and unconsciously get involved in the planned activities of other people or institutions. Today you have seen for yourself that one post can cause an avalanche of emotions,” it continued.

“When you post everything 'how it's going' on your profile, you can't be surprised that everything about you is known. If you want to be/are a soldier, you know well that: your profile should be available only to your friends, and not publicly on your profile you do not post photos and recordings relating to your service (in uniform, during training, while serving…), you do not post engaging in unnecessary discussions containing hate, you are acting in accordance with the ethos of a soldier of the Polish Army,” we read.

Inadmissible entry of the Territorial Defense Forces. OPSEC breached?

“Everyone who becomes a Territorials undergoes OPSEC training, which covers the above-mentioned issues. issues. “Supervisors of territorial military service soldiers often remind us of the dangers resulting from improper use of the Internet, and discipline them in cases of breaking the rules.” – explained. Finally, it was noted that “the account has not been taken over and is still in the right hands.” They were also asked to share the message.

The board also disappeared, and instead a similar-sounding entry appeared: “Officially: None of our systems have been taken over by third parties, there has been no hacker attack, and no personal data has been stolen. Comments on our activities can be found below. The comment itself was the same as before.

However, the WOT profile was not taken over by hackers

“Such knowledge is invaluable for foreign intelligence services. Not only do they have a list of people serving in the army, but it also includes direct links to social profiles. Such lists are used by intelligence, as evidenced by the search for the wives of Ukrainian soldiers on the so-called checking points in the first weeks of the war,” emphasizes “Gazeta Prawna”.

It was stated that the WOT entry “is a very clear violation of OPSEC, i.e. Operations Security.” “It is the process of identifying critical information and analyzing the actions that potential adversaries might take to obtain that information. Strategies and preventive measures are then developed to protect this critical data from leakage and use by unauthorized parties,” it concluded.