Strava's Jogging Activity Records Reveal Covert Military Bases
The athletic activity tracking app, Strava, may have unwittingly revealed covert military U.S. bases around the world after the release of its Global Heatmap.
Strava collects data from more than one billion people using fitness trackers. These were the pieces of information used to create its recently published Global Heatmap. However, it is important to note that the map shows data from 2015 to September 2017 and is not real-time.
While these types of features are preferably shown in real-time, luckily, this one was not, especially since cyber security analysts observed that Strava's Global Heatmap might have just revealed top-secret military bases of the United States in remote locations around the world.
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Shortly after the release of the Global Heatmap, security analyst Nathan Ruser was one of the first individuals to notice that the map may have revealed more than increasing temperatures around the world.
In a post on Twitter, Ruser said: "Strava released their global heatmap. 13 trillion GPS points from their users (turning off data sharing is an option). It looks very pretty, but not amazing for Op-Sec. US Bases are clearly identifiable and mappable."
Ruser shared several screenshots from the Global Heatmap where there were recorded activities, most presumably jogging, from very remote locations in countries like Afghanistan.
In one of the photos, Ruser commented: "If soldiers use the app like normal people do, by turning it on tracking when they go to do exercise, it could be especially dangerous. This particular track looks like it logs a regular jogging route. I shouldn't be able to establish any Pattern of life info from this far away."
It can be recalled that U.S. military servicemen were issued Fitbit trackers back in 2013 as part of their "Performance Triad" program to make sure they stay healthy through regular exercise, good sleep and food. But since these trackers can be left active even when not jogging, the device could have also entered routes that soldiers went to when doing patrols.
With the recent unintended reveal of sensitive information, the U.S. military will undoubtedly want to make changes in their policies of using tracking gadgets while on active deployment.
In a news release, the Department of Defense addressed the Strava heatmap issue and said the agency was now studying the security implications of personnel wearing fitness trackers while on duty.
"We take these matters seriously, and we are reviewing the situation to determine if any additional training or guidance is required, and if any additional policy must be developed to ensure the continued safety of DoD personnel at home and abroad," Army Col. Robert Manning III said.
