World
January 14, 2025 10:12
france - Tensions rise as sensitive information from France's most secure military base is leaked through StravaLeaks scandal, risking severe penalties for military personnel.
In a shocking revelation, the French Navy's most secretive base faced an unprecedented leak with StravaLeaks scandal.
According to Le Monde newspaper, information about the Long Island, the French Navy's best-protected military zone holding four nuclear-headed submarines, was leaked through the exercise application Strava, which can be freely used on smartphones.
The scandal, named StravaLeaks, revealed secret details such as control points, shift times, and the route of third-generation nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SNLE) by submarine crew members through inadvertent shares.
In addition to shared information by the submariners, Strava app also displayed the movement routes of the security details of US and Russian presidents.
Protected by land, sea, and drones, the island has more than 2,000 employees and safeguards 16 nuclear-headed missiles, each with a power equivalent to 1,000 times that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
In the last 10 years, more than 450 users were active on the app where users did not use fake names and their movements were visible to everyone.
A research conducted by the French newspaper Le Telegramme in 2018 revealed a small-scale leak concerning French nuclear submarines.
It was observed that the 2018 leak continued 7 years later, and the military personnel behind the leak was identified. Renaming the personnel serving on Long Island as Paul, Le Monde mentioned that Paul was active 16 times in January 2023 and ran along the dockside to reveal the island's route in February 2023.
Running 10 kilometers, Paul inadvertently disclosed the back-and-forth route on the map approximately 10 times during a 45-minute run. Similarly, personnel renamed as Arthur and Charles also inscribed the island's walking route into the app. Le Monde stated that the date when they stopped using the app coincided with the date they began their duties on SNLE.
Officials warned that personnel who inadvertently leaked information through Strava could face severe penalties.
Authorities mentioned that smartwatches of personnel, which were used to record their training performance, might have bypassed security checks despite instructions.
Stating that most violations were not committed by the submariners, officials attributed the leaks to military personnel responsible for monitoring the facilities.
Emphasizing the lack of internet access on the island, authorities declared that the shared data were not real-time and that the smartwatches transmitted all information at once when connected to the internet.
In a statement to Le Monde by the French Navy, it was emphasized that the negligence of some personnel did not pose leaks that could affect the operational activities of the island's base.