Doorbell with built-in camera (symbolic image): Russia is gaining access to infrastructure in Europe.
Image: keystone
A steady stream of arms and aid deliveries flows from Europe to Ukraine. Russia is obviously watching very closely.
Jakob Hartung / t-online
Russian hackers have hacked civilian cameras to spy on NATO military bases. This is reported by the British newspaper “The Telegraph”, citing a joint investigation by the Dutch domestic intelligence service AIVD and the military intelligence service MIVD. The perpetrators gained access to devices along military transport routes in order to find out which weapons were being delivered to Kiev.
According to the authorities, several European NATO states as well as Ukraine are affected. Organizations whose cameras are located on the routes in question have now been warned so that they can take countermeasures. The secret services did not disclose which types of cameras were involved. In recent years, however, intelligent doorbell systems that can be accessed via smartphone have become widespread due to cheap imports from China.
The Dutch investigation showed that many of the hacked cameras had little security. The devices “often have default passwords, outdated firmware and standard configurations,” the authorities said. Attackers could therefore track down such cameras relatively easily via the Internet and gain access.
Leopard 2 A6 main battle tank (symbolic image): Germany’s arms deliveries to Ukraine do not go unnoticed.Image: www.imago-images.de
Part of a larger pattern
The case is part of a series of previously disclosed intelligence findings that Russia is spying on a large scale in Europe in order to gain advantages in the war against Ukraine. Security authorities from Germany and the USA had already warned against similar tactics in May 2025 (Watson reported). The special unit 26165 of the Russian military intelligence service GRU – known as Fancy Bear – has gained access to surveillance cameras at border crossings, train stations and military facilities since 2022 in order to track aid deliveries to Ukraine.
According to information from the BND, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the BSI, around 10,000 cameras near military installations and train stations were affected, the majority of them in Ukraine and Romania. However, targets were also found in a total of 13 countries, including Germany.
Hacking civilian cameras for espionage purposes in wars and conflicts is common. Ukrainian hackers are said to have hijacked Russian surveillance cameras in order to prepare an attack on the port of Novorossiysk.
According to a report in the Financial Times, the Israeli secret service Mossad is said to be particularly effective in this practice. Accordingly, Israeli agents hacked Tehran’s traffic surveillance network for years to spy on Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. “We knew Tehran as well as we know Jerusalem,” an Israeli intelligence official told the newspaper. The findings helped plan the attack that killed Khamenei.