Bumbling German Defense Ministry Reveals ‘1234’ Password – While Talking About ‘British Troops in Ukraine’ Leak
CARELESS German defense bosses used the instantly crackable password ‘1234’ to protect military files.
The embarrassing blunder saw That of Berlin The Defense Department published the simple password online, ironically giving users access to information about last week’s major intelligence leak.
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The simple password protected a link that contained an audio statement from Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
Germany The military top brass is now being mocked because the statement itself addresses the serious security breach, which led Russia to obtain an entire conversation between senior German air force officers on Friday.
The new document read: “A press statement from Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on the intercepted air force communications can be accessed via the link below.”
Directly below the web link to the audio file it said: “Password: 1234”.
Although the file contained no classified information, German media wondered why the Defense Ministry used such weak passwords in the first place.
In the poorly secured audio recording, Pistorius sought to allay concerns that the leak could give Russia top-secret information about its allies’ operations in Ukraine.
He added that defense chiefs were still unsure how Russian spies were able to record the officers’ confidential conversation.
Pistorius has claimed the leak was an orchestrated attempt Vladimir Putin to ‘destabilize’ Germany.
The leak
On March 1, Russian state television broadcast a 38-minute intercepted telephone conversation of German Air Force chief Ingo Gerhartz.
Gerhartz told air force officers and a general, who had called from his hotel room, how Britain and… France delivered Storm Shadows missiles Ukraine.
The Luftwaffe boss also sensationally claimed that British troops were “on the ground”.
He stated that British personnel had been deployed in Ukraine and shared details of how the British Storm Shadow and French Scalp missiles were deployed in the country.
The officers also discussed how German-made Taurus cruise missiles could be used to destroy Putin’s prized missile Kerch Bridge in annexed Crimea.
The leak led to explosive Russian claims NATO is “preparing for war“.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Medvedev called the call proof that Germany and its allies are preparing for World War III.
Saw the embarrassing security breach Berlin labeled NATO’s weakest link and ‘neither safe nor reliable’.
Former Minister of Defense Ben Wallace told The Times in a scathing statement: “We know Germany is quite saturated with the Russian intelligence services, so it just shows that they are neither safe nor reliable.”
Professor Anthony Glees, a security expert from the University of Buckingham, told The Sun that “heads should roll” at Germany’s “appalling breach of NATO security”.
And he said Berlin should “stop being afraid of Putin” and give Kiev the vital weapons it needs to keep fighting.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the leak “very serious” and an investigation is now underway – but the country’s reputation has already taken a major hit.
Germany has called Russia’s accusations of NATO war preparations ‘absurd’.
But analysts say Moscow wants to ensure Scholz does not send Ukraine its deadly Taurus cruise missiles.
Retired Major General Rupert Jones also told The Sun that the ‘worrying’ leak ‘plays right into President Putin’s hands’.
He said: “It all means that President Putin and his regime are very, very smart in using the information domain, and this gives [him] ammunition.”
“It’s not good for the NATO alliance. It’s not good for Germany as a nation… it doesn’t look good when an apparently very amateurish mistake is made.”
Criticism of Germany
From weak sanctions to a lack of aid and arms deliveries, Germany’s European counterparts have criticized the country for consistently staying on its heels for two years.
The German government has expressed concern that too much aid could be seen as direct involvement on their part in the conflict.
Authorities also warn that Germany, one of the largest manufacturers of military hardware going to Ukraine, is increasingly becoming a major target of Russian espionage operations.
At the end of 2022, authorities arrested an employee of the German Foreign Intelligence Service (BND) whom they suspected of spying for Russia.
Last year, authorities arrested a military procurement agency officer on suspicion of passing classified information to Russian intelligence.
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