Russia's attempt to conquer Ukraine has shown its military's weaknesses.
The Russian military has failed in securing its communications.
Ukrainian forces have been taking advantage of that vulnerability.
The Russian military was exposed to embarrassment during the war in Ukraine.
Russia has significant military capabilities, but it has the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, and the quality of its military forces are in question.
The inability to communicate with each other reliably and securely is one of the most serious problems afflicting the Russian forces in Ukraine.
During the war, Ukrainian military and security services have been intercepting communications between Russian units in the field and their superiors in Russia.
The Ukrainians are not the only ones tuning in. The UK's Government Communications Headquarters has been listening to the Russians talk about their low spirits and friendly-fire incidents.
There are several reasons why these intercepts are possible.
Ukrainian electronic-warfare capabilities are notably good, and they have been aided by generous assistance from the US, including real-time intelligence and an unprecedented level of information-sharing, which may make it easier for Ukrainians to know where and when to listen in on Russian.
Russian capabilities are bad because of years of corruption and sanctions. Russian prisoners and vehicles captured by Ukrainian forces were found to be using commercial radios and cellphones that were taken from Ukrainian civilians.
It appears that our information on Russian capabilities is outdated or inaccurate because the US and its allies weren't able to get physical access to the systems Russian forces use prior to the war.
I am certain that is changing now that Ukrainian farmers are removing Russian equipment from the battlefield. Hasken, who has extensive special-operations and intelligence experience and served as chief cryptanalyst for US Special Operations Command, said that he thought most of it would be brought to a rail yard and shipped out to a western European nation or the US for evaluation.
The Russian military has not mastered operational security. If Russian troops don't maintain electronic or digital discipline in the field, entire units are in jeopardy.
Hasken said that if the Russian soldier is poorly trained, then Russian operational security is equally poor.
Military mistakes and poor coordination between Russian agencies have introduced other communications challenges.
Russian troops destroyed cellphone towers in the second-largest city of Ukraine, which meant that the officers of the Russian security service could not use their Era telephone-encryption system.
An officer in the field was told that the Era system wasn't working when an open-source researcher eavesdropped on a call.
The Russian army is equipped with secure phones that can't work in areas where the Russian army operates, according to the Bellingcat research group.
Russia's communications struggles are worsening due to the overlap and compound of the weaknesses.
Hasken said that the Ukrainians used their intercepts of Russian communications to bolster their victories and narrative.
Ukrainians and other groups have started many social-media chat rooms for reporting on Russian movements and highlighting Russian failures.
Military communications failures in Ukraine reflect broader challenges to the security of military and civilian communications.
Most Russian units use non-encrypted high-frequency radios. This incompatibility causes the units with the more secure devices to downGRADE in order to communicate.
If a special-operations unit can't communicate securely with the battalion that is supposed to be covering its operation, it doesn't matter if it has the latest ciphers.
The introduction of 5G poses problems. Many existing pieces of technology, from cellphones to cars, are less effective or outdated because of the spread of 5G.
Security concerns are brought by 5G. When networks jump to 5G, malicious state and non-state actors could exploit vulnerabilities. The US is concerned about Beijing using the role of Chinese telecommunications firm,Huawei, in the spread of 5G technology to its advantage.
If 5G networks in countries where US troops are present are compromised, malicious actors can collect information about who they are, what they are doing, and how they operate.
A defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran, and a graduate of the University of Baltimore, are some of the things that Stavros Atlamazoglou is.
The original article is on Business Insider.
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