The crew of French nuclear-armed submarines leaked their training to the Internet via the Strava app, unintentionally revealing classified data about patrol schedules, according to Le Monde.
As a result, the soldiers disclosed the location and timing of nuclear submarines. It used to be the French Navy’s top-secret base located on Île Longue.
Four submarines carried out permanent patrols on the principle of “permanence at sea.” They were tasked with launching a nuclear strike wherever the French President ordered them to do so.
Base security is provided through land, maritime and drone patrols. The use of mobile phones and other electronic devices is prohibited in most areas of the base. However, all of those measures failed to prevent the leakage of classified information.
The locations of submarines were revealed through jogging routes, with their schedule making it possible to determine the frequency of “black boats” leaving for combat duty. Moreover, most of the sailors who used Strava kept their real names in their accounts, leaving their profiles open for public viewing.
However, some officers noted that most of the irregularities uncovered through Strava were caused by military personnel deployed there to monitor the facilities, not submariners.
Due to the lack of network and Internet access, sports performance data is not transmitted to the platform in real time. However, this information is stored in the watch’s memory and posted as soon as the submariner returns to land and synchronises his device with the app.
The case highlighted concerns about the security of classified data, as the bodyguards of the French and American presidents also used the app. The information published in Strava allowed anyone to track and anticipate certain trips of top officials.
