ON THE LINE

Report: Russia Is Targeting NATO Soldiers’ Smartphones

Hacking devices among 4,000 troops along Polish, Baltics’ border.

Russia is targeting the personal smartphones of NATO soldiers in the field, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. NATO officials said Russian hackers hoped to gain operational information, gauge troop strength, and intimidate soldiers. Russia used sophisticated drones equipped with surveillance electronics and a portable telephone antenna to try to compromise the phones of 4,000 NATO troops deployed this year to Poland and the Baltic states to protect their borders with Russia, U.S. officials said. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Christopher L’Heureux said his personal iPhone had been hacked and reported lost while he was on a shooting drill in Poland not far from a major Russian base. Someone attempted to breach a second layer of password protection through a Russian IP address. “It had a little Apple map, and in the center of the map was Moscow,” he said. “It said, ‘Somebody is trying to access your iPhone.’”