The Israel Defense Forces has opened an investigation following the discovery of classified air force data being displayed for all military members.
The files, which involved briefings of potential strikes on Iran, were uploaded to the armed forces’ cloud infrastructure provided by American tech giant Microsoft and were made accessible on the open internet, a report from Tel Aviv-based news agency Haaretz said.
A footprint from the platform, called the “Click Portal,” was traced back to the 69 Squadron “Hammers,” which operates F-15 fighter jets from the southern Israeli district of Hatzerim.
Click Portal is categorized as an unclassified asset and can be used by all personnel within the military internationally, including those who have retired from service.
Exposed to Chinese App
Part of the case is a scanning and recognition system called “CamScanner,” a China-made application that was banned by the Indian government on “sovereignty and integrity” grounds and unlisted from the Google Play Store due to malicious code allowing breaches into user devices.
Papers scanned through the application included training calendars and staff rota, as well as confidential materials related to enemy weapon countermeasures and classified armament operation guidelines.
Investigating Elite Squadron
The Israeli military told Haaretz that the issue “was addressed immediately” and that the data involved had already been removed from the network.
An investigation will be headed by the government’s Information Security Department in partnership with the Israeli Air Force.
Possible activities to be examined are the system logs, which show document uploads by the 69 Squadron’s commander himself.
The formation previously worked on an air strike in Lebanon, which killed former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The air force’s current commander, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, previously served as the commanding officer of the Hammers squadron.
