NATO Catfishing
World Economic Forum released an article today stating how a NATO experiment used fake Facebook accounts, called “sockpuppets” to trick soldiers into sharing sensitive information.
“… the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence details an experiment it ran to trick serving members of the armed forces. While the authors won’t say which country’s armed forces, they are at least clear about what they were trying to achieve.”
I suppose it was to “probe the lines” to determine the vulnerability of militaries by their troops sharing information on social media.
“While most organizations have strict policies regarding security, the armed forces are steeped in it – from support staff to frontline troops and across all ranks. Even so, soldiers preparing for a NATO military exercise shared details about it with the people behind the false accounts, which demonstrates the ease with which malicious actors or state agents could obtain sensitive information. One of the chief tactics they used to draw unsuspecting people into their web of carefully constructed deliberate deception was targeted advertising, which cost just $60 to deploy across Facebook.”
Category: NATO
Loose lips sink ships….
It was always amazing how the locals in port knew more about fleet movements than the Sailors.
That’s exactly how the Russians made me vote for Trump.
👏 Well played, sir. 👏
MRS D voted for Trump. Because I told her to. 😉
It’s amazing to me how the promise of a little ‘tang will get guys to talk about all manner of topics they’d normally know better than to ever discuss under other circumstances.
Of course I’ve always been amazed at how many guys will throw away their families and their careers over some pussy…if you can’t get control of your pecker you’ll never get control of your life.
Wonder now if Lahrs is acronym for hidden meaning by said spies. Quick, Hide, they are everywhere, double bolt lock on doors (2 back to back, 1 steel and 1 barred) here in bottom cellar.
I attended a briefing about these catfishing schemes.
They showed a slide of a pretty Asian girl’s profile and I yelled out “Wait a minute! That’s my girlfriend.”
Someone else then shouted “No, that’s MY girlfriend.”
Then, several more chimed in with the same chant.
Do not put ideas like that in my head…
When I went to Korea for exercises, I learned that if you want to know what day the exercise ends, you go to the hostess bars. They can tell you the exact day it ends so you know if you can plan for some fun before you return home.
100% accurate in 10 exercises I attended.
I was in Korea 92-93 and the guys who were dating NCO Club Waitresses ALWAYS knew when the next 2ID Division Alert Exercise was going to be!
If anything like Germany, the correct answer would be “2AM Tuesday after the next three day weekend.”
“Hostess bars”. Is that the PC term?
Well that’s what we called them. My boss and the “old guys” would refer to them as ‘buy me drinkie’ bars.
In one place I became ‘norm’ and would get free beers for back n’ neck massages. So it worked well.
Clarification, to the women in the bars only. Not that there’s anything wrong with massaging men.
Hey, closed doors and consenting adults, right?
Whatever floats your boat, MSG.
*grin*
I had a Korean man…”Mr. Son” who cleaned my BEQ and kept my uniforms, boots, etc ready to go.
I always knew we were going to have an alert or no notice exercise because I would get back to the hooch and he would have all my field gear laid out and ruck/A bag packed and ready.
For a bottle of Jim Beam and $100 a month, quite a deal.
He also always left notes telling me where the protests would be so we could avoid them in the ville….
I worked in S3, so it always amazed me that he always knew more than we did about our schedules.
But, that is what we pay dog robbers to do…
🙂
this was waaaaaaaaaay back in the mid 90’s, so know farcebook, etc back then. I’m sure it was the same in France in 1914…
It seems the grapevine always exists…
All of this is a good reason to stay off social media.
WATS A SOCKPUPPET SOUNDS LIKE A DUMBA** WORD THAT ISNT EVEN REAL
THOMAS REISTER REAL VIETNAM VETREN
The practice is called “sockpuppetry” and if someone masters it they can be called a “sockpuppet master.”
The term came from the cheap practice of making puppets by putting a sock on your hand for non-pleasure reasons. Use a magic marker to make eyes and eyebrows and you are in business.
We loves us some sockpuppetry around here! Chew toys! Haven’t had a good one in a while, the foogas is stale and the claymores are probably due for replacement.
PTBH. you just got catfished. 😂
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=83533
I DONT KNOW WHO THAT IS OR WHY YOUR GUNNA LUMP ME IN WITH SOME BODIE THAT TALKS LIKE THAT BUT I DO THINK THAT THE MANNJ GOT A BAD RAP PROBLY SHOULD TAKE THAT PAGE DOWN
I took the bait. You’re right. 😉
Tommy-boi… the real deal “two-hole” warrior!
That’s how he got the dreaded PTS of D from all that “two-hole” combat behind the dumpsters in those random truck-stops. Wrasslin’ methed up truckers going in dry can be harrowing experiences.
ATTENTION KMART SHOPPERS, SOCKPUPPET CLEANUP IN AISLE 13!!!
There were catfishing ops long before there was social media. As old as warfare itself.
The only good thing is that for every genuine hunint asset they manage to snag, they get six phonies.
//just trying to stay positive.
NASA runs these exercises periodically … but instead of catfishing, they attempt “social engineering” (information security) to see if we click on links provided by a suspicious email.
I always report suspicious emails, and when they are part of the info-sec operation, I receive a “Good Job!” response.
DHS/CBP was doing that for a bit, but I think the union threw a bullshit flag on it.
Complained because it exposes people who just cannot be taught not to click links?
Those fake-phish training programs – work-. The educatable folks are trained to detect and avoid. The dummies get outed and either put on additional restrictions or canned.
Now why would unions object to that? Too many “organizers” and “shop stewards” in category 2?
They claimed it was a form of entrapment.
I delete all emails that look like phishing.
Any email that is from my chain of command looks like phishing.
LOL
LOL! Great answer when we get called for it! I’m gonna remember that one.
the best part? I get congratulated for my “diligence”….LOL
I dislike email anyway…
“Catfishing” is not to be confused with “Noodling.”
Video posted for educational purposes only.
That’s one woman you will never see using #metoo. She’d just leave a body.
If you focus on her “Daisy Dukes” you will miss the excellent technique.
There was a fish?
Damn! There was a fish!
A pair of amazing talents, as well.
“She’s a keeper”
Does this video come with English subtitles?
I may have been born in Georgia and raised in the South …. but I’ve been in California toooo long to “unnerstan” that there stuff.
The post gut truck driver/owner knows all.
Not sure about other services, but the Marine Corps Times publishes a map that pinpoints where the MEUs are operating and identifies other Marine Corps activity around the globe.
Of course, the Marine Corps contributes to that rag and doesn’t actually run (or endorse) it.
Even still, there’s enough open source Intel out there to build a bigger picture. Back in the day, the kind of information that’s shared on social media and discussed openly today was considered a big “fuck no” then.
When I went to Haiti in ’94, the wives knew more about what was going on in the early days then we did thanks to the media.
Some analysts in Germany back in the day used Stars and Stripes alone to put together a far more detailed TO&E of USAREUR than was ever published, including many confidential/secret units.
Growing up in San Diego, the local paper would publish the dates of when Navy ships would go to see or arrive in port daily. Use to be in the business section.
Before social media, before computers. Summer 1967, the LRRP medic said he was at a cub in Long Binh, one of the girls asked which unit he was with. He told her — 11th ACR. She said, “Oh, you go operation such and such place three days.” There was an ambush, big fight for two-three hours. Air Cav Troop sent up every gun ship we had. Expended beaucoup bullets and rockets. One crew chief, one pilot wounded, three ships hit overall.
When MT Pinatubo blew up in the Philippines, we were to toure from taiwan to australia with numerous ports o call in between. we were in the NTA in Okinawa and our new LT gave us the news that the mini west pac was canceled and we were going to be leaving the next day. he was sad, we were not
upon landing in Subic bay, aside from gawking at the sand blasted jungle that now looked like a lunar landing site, i skipped out on the STD briefs and being a resourceful Marine and still in possession of my liberty card from my last deployment, decided to go check out Tuns Tavern for a beer and well some other stuff. as i walked out the gate, i see the first bar accross from shitriver bridge (it was club Metalica) and hanging from the roof on a 30’x10′ banner was ” Welcome Dco, 3d CEB, 3d MARDIV” and listed the whole platoon. only one not on there was the new LT.
Needless to say we drank a lot of beer there, but the intell that they had on base just goes to show you can never beat humint for real world, real time results. A beer to the Ladies of the subic banana telegraph!
i wished that the Soviets had decided to catfish me back in the day, i could have won the cold war single handed. i was the single most lost troop that ever wore a uniform. I never knew where we were or where we were going, i barely knew my 1st SGT and CO, forget about Battalion or higher. the only thing i would talk about at the barbershop in Jacksonville, NC was where i could buy beer underage. the barber there knew all the good spots!
Same thing could be said for stateside, too. Many times, civilians knew ahead of time which craft was due in from an oversea’s munitions run and so would a local crime ring.