Sensitive data leaked to the Deputy Head of German Foreign Intelligence

A journalistic investigation conducted by the German channel VD Air (WDR) and the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) revealed that the mobile phone number of Doug Baer, ​​deputy head of the German Foreign Intelligence Service, has been available on the Internet for several years. He added that his private email addresses and his private home address in Bavaria can also be publicly viewed.

Dag Baer (61 years old) has been deputy head of the German Foreign Intelligence Service since 2023. He is also considered one of the most senior officials holding "sensitive secrets" in Germany, according to the public Tagesschau website.

Baer is responsible for strategic military intelligence abroad. His men are supposed to collect information about Russian nuclear weapons, North Korea's missile program, or Chinese space weapons.

Between 2013 and 2017, Baer assumed command of the German Special Forces Command, an elite unit of the German army that carries out top-secret operations in war and crisis zones, according to the public Tagesschau website.

The newspaper "Bild" pointed out that the appearance of Dag Baer's phone number on the Internet and his home address in the state of Bavaria is due to the leak of data from an American online auction company, which specializes in works of art, antiques and collectibles.

The platform was subjected to a cyber attack in 2020, where data belonging to about 3.4 million customers was stolen and published shortly thereafter. It appears that among these data is private information about the Deputy Head of the German Federal Intelligence Service.

It is noteworthy that the auction house informed its users at the time of the incident, which it had been exposed to, and the data that had been seized.

The Tagesschau website believes that, in principle, anyone who leaves their data on commercial platforms could be exposed to customer data being hacked and then published on the Internet. He added that what was even more worrying was that Dag Baer did not appear to take subsequent action despite knowing about the matter.

An investigation by the German channel VD Air (WDR) and the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) revealed that Dag Baer had been using his phone number until very recently.

Baer said that he had known for some time that his data was among the data that was leaked, but he continued that he was using his phone number for “private and limited purposes.” He continued that the phone is regularly scanned to detect malware. He added that he kept the number for family reasons, but at the same time he admitted that “it was a mistake” and “he has corrected it now,” according to what was reported by the German “T Online” website.

While the German intelligence service responded to journalists’ inquiries by saying: “In principle, we do not make public comments on matters related to information or potential intelligence activities.” He added: "This also includes personnel matters, especially those related to members of the agency's leadership."

What is interesting is that what happened to Doug Baer was not the only leak of its kind in Europe. It also included very senior European intelligence figures. According to an investigation by the German public broadcaster VD Air (WDR) and the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), the cycling and running tours of Peter Resink, head of the Dutch military intelligence service, could be accessed via a fitness application.

Also, it was possible to know the way Peter Resink returned from the intelligence service headquarters to his private home. As well as his estimated top speeds and the number of calories he is believed to have burned.

The same investigation indicated that NATO had recently warned of such methods “used by Russian intelligence services.” It is widely believed that they have become increasingly dependent on Signal and WhatsApp messaging app accounts in order to spy on or impersonate targeted people.

Intelligence expert Christopher Nearing said: "An attacker can do a lot using such data, especially if it continues to be used and is not changed despite its leaking." He added: "Email addresses and mobile phone numbers are our key to the digital world, as various applications and services are often linked to them."