A US congressman is warning a new Pentagon effort to provide troops with Internet service could give the Russians access to their personal information.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican, wrote to the Pentagon on Friday charging its plan to offer low-cost Internet service to troops in places like Iraq and Afghanistan “creates unnecessary security risks.”
“Our deployed warfighters could be exposed to transmitting their personal information over unprotected networks that are controlled by foreign and potentially hostile enemies,” Hunter, who served as a US Marine Corps officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, wrote to the Defense Information Systems Agency.
American troops, particularly those stationed on larger bases, are often provided Internet services while deployed overseas as part of the military’s programs that allow troops to stay in touch with family and friends.
According to Hunter, previous efforts to provide internet service were “primarily delivered via secure satellite” and had “stringent security measures.”
But Hunter warned that a proposed contract for the new service would seek to trim costs by using local Iraqi- and Afghan-operated Internet cafes and transmitting internet signals via Russian-owned satellites.
Hackers have targeted the personal information of US military service members in the past. In March, a previously unknown hacking group calling itself the “Islamic State Hacking Division” posted online the names, photos and addresses of about 100 US troops and called for attacks against them.
Cybersecurity experts agreed there are risks with the Pentagon’s plan.
“I do think this presents a security risk,” Tom Kellerman, CEO of Strategic Cyber Ventures, told CNN. “This is a dangerous short-cut through the woods.”
Kellerman noted that Russian “critical infrastructure providers have all allowed the Russian government to backdoor them,” meaning allowing the Russian government entry into their systems and the information contained there.
He said the new approach could potentially allow hostile actors to learn with whom the US service members were communicating and that could reveal the location of their respective home computer networks, allowing those networks to be targeted down the road.
Hunter’s warning comes as the US intelligence community has accused the Russian government of being behind a series of recent cyber attacks targeted at US political organizations.
The Defense Department has not formally responded to Hunter’s letter, according to his staff. The Defense Information Systems Agency told CNN that by law it cannot discuss contracts before they are finalized.