UK troops in Estonia at risk of Russia spying on their phones

BRITISH troops have been warned that the Kremlin could spy on their phones when they conduct military exercises near Russia’s border, it was reported.

Thousands of British soldiers have been deployed to countries that border Russia for major land and air assault exercises as part of Operation Steadfast Defender, Nato’s largest military exercise since the Cold War.

Lt Col Grant Brown warned troops in Estonia that Russian agents could carry out an “electronic collect” of data on their mobiles, according to The Times.

He wrote: “We must be under no illusions – Russia will be watching us as we prepare, as we deploy, and as we are operating in Europe. That’s a good thing, it is the whole point of this deployment. But it will mean a rigorous approach to things like the use of mobile phones while out in theatre.

“We must expect Russian agents to be conducting an electronic collect on us while there, so the measures we will have in place protect all of us.”

The British force at the base in Estonia has several measures in place to counter the threat, including a rule that phones are to be left in dorms during exercises, The Times reported.

Geo-tagging reportedly must also be disabled to stop locations being revealed.

One soldier told the newspaper that the main threats were phones being used to trace their location being tracked and the contact details of their friends and family being hacked.

He said: “So it’s why it’s very important to stick to the guidance that’s pushed out from above.”