Real World Example of Why Being Tech Dependent Is BAD

I said this some time back and I will keep saying it: MAKING MILITARY FORCES DEPENDENT ON TECHNOLOGY IS STUPID. Basic Courses on Navigation WITHOUT the use of GPS AIDS should still be taught. Compass and Map Skills should not be an archaic skill-set!! This goes for Civilians as well. GPS Units are great but when was the last time you broke out an Atlas and planned a trip without one? These are PRACTICAL skill-sets that are going to not only come in handy but could save your life one day when TECHNOLOGY as we have come to know it (and be ADDICTED TO) is DEAD. -SF

Navigation App Sends Israeli Soldiers Into a West Bank Refugee Camp, Sparking Fatal Clashes

 A Palestinian man was killed on Monday night after Israeli soldiers using a cellphone navigation app accidentally entered a West Bank refugee camp, prompting fierce clashes and a helicopter-led manhunt.

The two non-combat soldiers from the Oketz K-9 unit apparently lost their way while using Waze; a traffic and mapping app developed by Israeli entrepreneur Uri Levine and sold to Google for a reported $1.1 billion in 2013.

According to local media reports the two soldiers coming from the direction of Beit El settlement took a wrong turn north of Jerusalem eventually winding up in Qalandia, a crowded refugee camp near to Ramallah.

Waze has a setting which enables Israeli drivers to “avoid dangerous areas” — including the Palestinian controlled A and B territories of West Bank,  the former of which Israeli law prohibits its citizens from entering — but it is not clear if the soldiers had enabled the option. Toll roads and freeways can also be avoided by users on request.

On entering the camp the soldiers were reportedly set upon by an angry crowd that threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at their unarmored military vehicle setting it ablaze. As the soldiers fled they separated.

One soldier made immediate contact with the army’s West Bank division from a hiding place inside the camp, but unable to reach the other soldier the Israel Defense Forces reportedly issued a Hannibal Directive; the codename for a controversial order permitting extraordinary measures to prevent or end the abduction of one of their men.

In the ensuing rescue mission special forces and helicopters were deployed to the camp, where violent confrontations broke out killing one Palestinian man and injuring at least ten Israeli soldiers and border police officers. The missing soldier was eventually located in the nearby Jewish settlement Kochav Yaakov which he walked to after fleeing from the burning military vehicle.

The incident comes as the most bloody round of violence between Israelis and Palestinians since the Second Intifada (which took place between 2000 and 2005) stretches into its sixth month. Since the beginning of October, 28 Israelis have been killed in a series of stabbing, shooting, and vehicle attacks by Palestinians from West Bank and East Jerusalem. On the other side Israeli security forces have killed at least 170 Palestinians, 112 of whom Israel says were shot while carrying out attacks.

Waze has nearly 50 million users worldwide and in 2013 won the award for the “Best Overall App” at the Mobile World Congress. The program, which uses crowdsourced information to alert drivers to speed cameras and route them around traffic jams, currently has complete base maps for 13 countries including; Israel, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, South Africa and Colombia.

This is not the first time that a Waze user has been led into danger. Last October a 70-year-old Brazilian woman, Regina Múrmura, was shot and killed while driving with her husband after the app led the elderly couple into a gang-controlled favela in Rio de Janeiro, due to replicated street names in different parts of the city.

In December 2014 Los Angeles Police Department complained that the police locator feature on the app could be “misused used by those with criminal intent” after two officers were shot by Ismaaiyl Brinsley who posted a screenshot from Waze on his Instagram account just hours before carrying out the attack — though Brinsley did discard his phone two miles away from scene of the crime.

Speaking at the Tel Aviv New Tech exhibition for military products on Tuesday morning, Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said that the incident highlighted the importance of soldiers being trained in “navigating with the aid of a real map.. and not to rely too heavily on technology which can lead the user astray.”

In a statement published on Tuesday afternoon, Waze hit back at the suggestion it was to blame for the soldiers mistakenly entering the camp, and highlighted the app’s safety feature which enables users to avoid areas that are “dangerous or prohibited for Israelis to drive through.”

“In this case [of the two Israeli soldiers entering Qalandia] the setting was disabled. In addition, the driver deviated from the suggested route and as a result, entered the prohibited area…There are also red signs on the road in question that prohibit access to Palestinian-controlled territories (for Israelis). It is the responsibility of every driver to adhere to road and traffic signs and obey local laws,” the company said in a statement to AFP.

Brigadier-General Motti Almoz told Israel’s Army Radio that the two soldiers’ use of the Waze app was under investigation. The investigation is expected to focus on the conduct of the lost duo and the orders they were given by their commander.

The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to VICE News’ request for comment. 

Read the Original Article at Vice News

Read about How the IDF Army had to rescue these Soldiers at Times of Israel

 

Intel Tradecraft: Geo-Tagging and Identifying a Picture by it’s Background (Similar Image Search)

 

In the most recent episode of Homeland, Carrie while trying to figure out what direction to go in searching a stolen laptop for intel, is distracted by the computer’s screen saver which is a picture that shows the suspect in a beachfront bar in what appears to be a tropical location. Thinking back, Carrie remembers one of her associates (Allison) mention the name of a beachfront bar (Banana Joe’s) in the West Indies (St. Lucia Island). Carrie then has her computer tech do a google search for “Banana Joe’s Bar”. She then pulls up the image of the bar and compares it with the screen saver picture; sure enough the backgrounds match, right down to the yellow fence and bamboo awning of the bar.

In the 21st century, pictures just don’t say a 1,000 words anymore, they can tell (down to the square inch) the EXACT location of that picture to the person who knows where to look.

The first way this can be accomplished is through Geo-Tagging. 

Geotagging is the process of adding geographical information to various media in the form of metadata. The data usually consists of GPS coordinates like latitude and longitude, but may even include bearing, altitude, distance and place names. Geotagging is most commonly used for photographs and can help people get a lot of specific information about where the picture was taken or the exact location of a friend who logged on to a service.

For those of you that keep up with the news, you will remember this recent story about some Russian Soldiers in Syria that were geo located by some Russian Investigative bloggers seeking to identify current troop locations in Syria. This story started a lengthy online conversation about how a large amount of modern military intelligence is now obtained through Open Sourced information such as geo-tagging.

Geo-Tagging is made possible through EXIF meta-data. It is important to review how to both modify this data to both avoid YOUR photo’s being discovered and discover another person’s photo location if need be.

The Second way is what we discussed in the opening paragraph; identifying similar backgrounds or Similar Background Search. There are several ways to accomplish this, the easiest way is through Google Image Search and Reverse Image Search, which are fairly self-explanatory to use, simply click-n-drag the photo into the search box.

TIP: As a general rule (something that was also briefly discussed in Homeland) when you take a selfie or any other picture and you want to minimize the chance that somebody will be able to identify your location, minimize the AMOUNT of background in your picture, regardless of what it is. Remember, in the age of the internet, sometimes the smallest thing can be recognized and identified.

Stay Alert, Stay Armed and Stay Dangerous!

Tradecraft: Geo-Locating by Photos

They say photos say a 1,000 words; well in the 21st Century they can also tell your exact location. -SF

Russian ground staff members load a Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet with weapons at the Hmeymim air base near Latakia, Syria, in this handout photograph released by Russia’s Defence Ministry October 22, 2015. REUTERS/Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters

Russian soldiers geolocated by photos in multiple Syria locations, bloggers say

By Maria Tsvetkova

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Three serving or former Russian soldiers have been geolocated by photographs in Syria, including locations near Hama, Aleppo and Homs, Russian bloggers said on Sunday, suggesting the Kremlin’s operation stretches well beyond its air campaign.

Russia first launched air strikes to support President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s four-year civil war on Sept. 30 but has repeatedly said it has no intention of mounting a ground operation.

It has instead said it will limit its help to military trainers, advisers and deliveries of military equipment.

U.S. security officials and independent experts told Reuters last week that Moscow had increased its forces in Syria to 4,000 personnel from an estimated 2,000. A U.S. defense official said multiple rocket-launcher crews and long-range artillery batteries were deployed outside four bases the Russians were using.

Sunday’s report by Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), a group of Russian investigative bloggers, said that photos on social media had been used to geolocate three Russian serving or former soldiers in Syria.

“Although we still don’t have indisputable evidence of Russian servicemen taking a direct part in the fighting on the ground in Syria, we believe the situation observed contradicts the claims of Russian officials that Russian troops are not taking part and are not planning to take part in ground operations,” CIT said.

Russia’s military jets are based in Latakia in western Syria, far from where the three men were geolocated.

Read the Original Article at Reuters