IS RUSSIA BLACKMAILING GERMANY? The Official Taurus Leak Narrative is Not Adding Up!

Guest post by Naomi Seibt

The “Taurus Leak” has thrust Germany into the spotlight of controversy: A leaked audio recording exposed a conversation between the highest military generals about plans to attack the Russian Crimean Bridge with Taurus Missiles, Germany’s supreme weaponry. Not only did this bombshell spark massive international concerns about the tensions between Russia and the West: The revelation that Russia had gained access to such sensitive information also raises big questions about the security of Germany’s entire data protection system.

The Ministry of Defence announced that the leak was supposedly caused by an “operator error.” The alleged explanation goes as follows: A participant in Singapore had connected via an insecure channel, indicating that they had simply been using a bugged phone. Thus, the public is under the impression that the conversation was intercepted from the outside. A foolish mistake, combined with a lucky discovery by the Russian Intelligence Service.

This is a lie.

The narrative that is sold to the public does not add up, according to cybersecurity experts. Naturally, chances are low that common people with more trust in the government than IT knowledge will question the details of the leak. The major outrage, at least from the government, mainstream media and the people who consume them, is targeted at Russia for interfering with a German military conference that is none of their business – well, it kind of is. In fact, a large part of the German population is appalled by its military for threatening to bomb Russia and potentially escalate the war to a terrifying extent.

But Germany might be facing a way more concerning dilemma with huge ramifications: An utterly infiltrated security system and possibly even blackmail.

Let us analyze the conversation: It starts with Captain Irrgang calling General Gräfe in Singapore. At some point during the initially casual back and forth, Gräfe mentions the good view from his hotel and jokes about pointing his camera towards the view to make the other participants jealous. Therefore, it is safe to assume that he was using his notebook.

The call was initiated by a German participant from within the Bundeswehr. This is the most secure path, and the reverse route would likely have been blocked by a firewall anyway. Plus, the conversation was hosted on a WebEx server which offers highly secure end-to-end-encryption. The connection between the notebook in Singapore and the server system within the Bundeswehr was highly encrypted both by a VPN as well as the WebEx server.

Consequently, these are the only ways that the conversation could have been accessed from Singapore: Eavesdropping on the hotel’s WiFi hotspot by Russian agents in the adjacent room or gaining physical access to the netbook in Singapore.

Both scenarios, however, are very unlikely: These are fundamental errors that would be grossly negligent on the military’s part. Standard precautions should have been put in place to avoid these possibilities. Plus, the Marina Bay Sands hotel is essentially a national symbol, known for hosting A-listers, world stars, billionaires with high security requirements.

The logical conclusion one must confront is: The Bundeswehr network has been centrally hacked from the inside.

If that is the case, the implications are disastrous for Germany’s safety way beyond the leak! Odds are that the GRU (Russian secret foreign intelligence service) invaded the system a long time ago and took its time to install backdoors – basically infecting the entire system. This can usually only be fixed by replacing EVERYTHING. Admitting such a political defeat just before the upcoming elections would be akin to political suicide. Boris Pistorius, German Minister of Defence, is putting up a façade by blaming the situation on an “accident”.

But that is not the worst part: Not only is it unknown to us and the military how much information Russia has gathered, but also how much they have published. Given the gravity of the leaked information, one can only speculate what else the GRU has found out and will use against Germany. Russia has Germany on a leash. Unbeknownst to the public, the blackmailing may already be in progress. Deconstructing the entire Bundeswehr server is a massive demonstration of power.

The Taurus Leak might be only the tip of the iceberg.