MIVD

German Intelligence Deputy Chief's Personal Data Exposed for Years After LiveAuctioneers Breach

The personal phone number, email address, and home address of Dag Baer, deputy head of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND), remained publicly accessible for several years following a 2020 breach of the American online auction platform LiveAuctioneers. The incident exposed data belonging to 3.4 million users and was uncovered through a joint investigation by Süddeutsche Zeitung and WDR. Baer continued using the compromised phone number until journalists contacted him on September 9, after which he acknowledged the error and stopped using the old number. Similar exposures affected a Bundeswehr general-major based in Bavaria as well as Peter Resink, head of the Dutch military intelligence service MIVD. All cases originated from third-party commercial services rather than direct compromises of intelligence agency systems. The reporting highlights how even senior intelligence officials remain vulnerable to ordinary consumer data breaches when they reuse contact details across personal accounts.

Russian Intelligence Hijacks Exposed Security Cameras in Europe and Ukraine for Military Surveillance

Dutch intelligence agencies AIVD and MIVD have revealed that Russian military intelligence is systematically compromising internet-connected security cameras across Europe and Ukraine. The attackers scan for exposed devices using brand fingerprints, then log in with default passwords and outdated firmware without needing zero-day exploits. In Ukraine, live camera feeds are used not only for reconnaissance of military transport routes and weapon deliveries but also to directly support targeting of Ukrainian forces and equipment. Censys identified over 87,000 vulnerable cameras in the EU, NATO countries, and Ukraine, with more than 4,000 located in Ukraine alone. While the actual number of confirmed compromises is smaller, the cameras are strategically positioned along key military logistics routes. The agencies issued basic but critical recommendations including disabling public exposure, changing default credentials, and applying patches for known vulnerabilities such as CVE-2016-7407 and CVE-2021-39275.