The German news website Zeit Online reported yesterday (Saturday) that an information security breach has provided access to information on at least 6,000 meetings held by the German military via the Webex video conferencing platform. This leak comes two months after leaks about a secret military meeting held over the same tool.
According to research by the news website, it is possible to access the name of the person who sent the Webex invitation to important meetings of the German military, as well as other information such as the time and date.
The website reported that “more than 6,000 meetings, some of them secret, can be found online” on topics such as the long-range Taurus missiles requested by Ukraine or a “digital battlefield”, AFP reported, citing Sharq al-Awsat.
The virtual meeting rooms of 248,000 members of the German army can be easily detected thanks to a weak cyber design without even password protection.
Among other things, it also found the digital meeting room of German Air Force Commander Ingo Gerhartz, the site said.
Gerhartz’s name came to the fore in March when a secret conversation between senior German officers was leaked. Gerhartz was among the military personnel who allegedly failed to use the necessary encrypted Webex line. The interception of the conversation by Russian intelligence services caused a scandal in Germany and put the country in an embarrassing position vis-à-vis its allies.
According to Zeit Online, the German military only became aware of the security breach after journalists asked about it.
A German army spokesman told AFP that a vulnerability was discovered in the army’s video conferences over Webex, but that it was fixed within 24 hours.
