Strava är en amerikansk app som kallar sig för "the social network for athletes" - en "fitness tracker" som via GPS spårar och lagrar data om hur man t.ex. joggar, cyklar eller promenerar. Strava kan användas i t.ex. Jawbone- eller Fitbit-träningsarmband, Garmin-enheter eller som app i iPhone eller Android.
Den 2 november förra året släppte Strava en massiv databas över alla löprundor m.m. som dess användare kartlagt via appen, svindlande 3 biljoner datapunkter, sökbart via en karta. The Guardian:
I går uppmärksammade Nathan Ruser, 20-årig australisk analytiker vid något som heter Institute for United Conflict Analysts, via Twitter att de mycket detaljerade kartorna också innehåller information om löprundor m.m. företagna vid t.ex. militärbaser. The Guardian uppmärksammade det:
Amerikanska teknologinyhetssidan The Verge skrev också om det, i dag:
The Washington Post fyllde på i dag:
I dag har närgranskningarna av diverse misstänkta och tidigare okända amerikanska militära installationer regnat in på Twitter. Några exempel:
Många, många fler exempel finns på Twitter för den som t.ex. klickar sig vidare via länkarna ovan.
Frågeställning
Vad innebär det här för svenska säkerhetsintressen? Används Strava alls av svenskar, i Sverige, i utlandstjänst?
Den 2 november förra året släppte Strava en massiv databas över alla löprundor m.m. som dess användare kartlagt via appen, svindlande 3 biljoner datapunkter, sökbart via en karta. The Guardian:
Citat:
Strava, the social network for athletes, has launched its global heatmap, a striking visualization of over one billion activities from Strava athletes across a wide variety of activities, both on land and in the sea. The activities logged covered nearly 17 billion miles. You can explore and search for your own area here.
I går uppmärksammade Nathan Ruser, 20-årig australisk analytiker vid något som heter Institute for United Conflict Analysts, via Twitter att de mycket detaljerade kartorna också innehåller information om löprundor m.m. företagna vid t.ex. militärbaser. The Guardian uppmärksammade det:
Citat:
However, over the weekend military analysts noticed that the map is also detailed enough that it potentially gives away extremely sensitive information about a subset of Strava users: military personnel on active service.
Nathan Ruser, an analyst with the Institute for United Conflict Analysts, first noted the lapse. The heatmap "looks very pretty" he wrote, but is "not amazing for Op-Sec" – short for operational security. "US Bases are clearly identifiable and mappable."
"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," Ruser added, highlighting one particular track that "looks like it logs a regular jogging route."
"In Syria, known coalition (ie US) bases light up the night," writes analyst Tobias Schneider. "Some light markers over known Russian positions, no notable colouring for Iranian bases ... A lot of people are going to have to sit through lectures come Monday morning."
Nathan Ruser, an analyst with the Institute for United Conflict Analysts, first noted the lapse. The heatmap "looks very pretty" he wrote, but is "not amazing for Op-Sec" – short for operational security. "US Bases are clearly identifiable and mappable."
"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," Ruser added, highlighting one particular track that "looks like it logs a regular jogging route."
"In Syria, known coalition (ie US) bases light up the night," writes analyst Tobias Schneider. "Some light markers over known Russian positions, no notable colouring for Iranian bases ... A lot of people are going to have to sit through lectures come Monday morning."
Amerikanska teknologinyhetssidan The Verge skrev också om det, i dag:
Citat:
Strava's map doesn't necessarily reveal the presence of military installations to the world: Google Maps and public satellite imagery have already done that. But where Google Maps shows the location of buildings and roads, Stava's map does provide some additional information: it reveals how people are moving along those areas, and how frequently, a potential security threat to personnel. For example, in the following pair of images, one can easily match up roadways and structures on Google Maps to how people are moving around Fort Benning, Georgia.
Ruser points out that anyone viewing the map can pick out Coalition bases in Syria, and installations in Afghanistan, and zooming in on these locations reveal heavily trafficked areas, as well as US installations that might not have been disclosed.
Ruser points out that anyone viewing the map can pick out Coalition bases in Syria, and installations in Afghanistan, and zooming in on these locations reveal heavily trafficked areas, as well as US installations that might not have been disclosed.
The Washington Post fyllde på i dag:
Citat:
Most parts of the United States and Europe, where millions of people use some type of fitness tracker, show up on the map as a blaze of light, because there is so much activity.
In war zones and deserts in such countries as Iraq and Syria, the heat map becomes almost entirely dark - except for scattered pinpricks of activity. Zooming in on those areas brings into focus the locations and outlines of known U.S. military bases, as well as of other unknown and potentially sensitive sites - presumably because American soldiers and other personnel are using fitness trackers as they move around.
Air Force Col. John Thomas, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said Sunday that the U.S. military is looking into the implications of the map.
(..)
At a site in northern Syria near a dam, where analysts have suspected the U.S. military is building a base, the map shows a small blob of activity accompanied by an intense line along the nearby dam, suggesting that the personnel at the site jog regularly along the dam, Schneider said.
"This is a clear security threat," he said. "You can see a pattern of life. You can see where a person who lives on a compound runs down a street to exercise. In one of the U.S. bases at Tanf, you can see people running round in circles."
In war zones and deserts in such countries as Iraq and Syria, the heat map becomes almost entirely dark - except for scattered pinpricks of activity. Zooming in on those areas brings into focus the locations and outlines of known U.S. military bases, as well as of other unknown and potentially sensitive sites - presumably because American soldiers and other personnel are using fitness trackers as they move around.
Air Force Col. John Thomas, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said Sunday that the U.S. military is looking into the implications of the map.
(..)
At a site in northern Syria near a dam, where analysts have suspected the U.S. military is building a base, the map shows a small blob of activity accompanied by an intense line along the nearby dam, suggesting that the personnel at the site jog regularly along the dam, Schneider said.
"This is a clear security threat," he said. "You can see a pattern of life. You can see where a person who lives on a compound runs down a street to exercise. In one of the U.S. bases at Tanf, you can see people running round in circles."
I dag har närgranskningarna av diverse misstänkta och tidigare okända amerikanska militära installationer regnat in på Twitter. Några exempel:
- Benghazi, Libyen
- Påstådda CIA-styrda "black sites" i Djibouti
- ar-Raqqah, Syrien
- Camp Peary, med hemligt CIA-träningsläger, USA
- CIA-bas i Mogadishu
- Ryska flygbasen Khemimim, Syrien, inklusive vaktpass
- Turkiskt vaktpass nära Manbij, norra Syrien
- Jemen
- Cyklister korsar fronten i Ukraina
- Kinesiska styrkor på Woody Island i södra Kina
Många, många fler exempel finns på Twitter för den som t.ex. klickar sig vidare via länkarna ovan.
Frågeställning
Vad innebär det här för svenska säkerhetsintressen? Används Strava alls av svenskar, i Sverige, i utlandstjänst?
