Russia used spy drones to hack smartphones of Nato soldiers stationed in Eastern Europe

Smartphones and social media accounts of Nato troops stationed in Eastern Europe were reportedly hacked by Russia. Nato soldiers' Facebook and iCloud accounts were also targeted, with attempts made to hijack Facebook accounts and launch iCloud phishing campaigns.

The attacks reportedly targeted around 4,000 Nato troops, currently deployed in Eastern Europe, near the Russian border. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, at least six Nato soldiers were victims of hacks.

The attacks ranged from compromising Facebook accounts to sending out fake "Find My iPhone" requests. In one particular case, a spy drone, aka a Stingray-like device, was reportedly found gathering information and deleting data from phones located nearby.

US Army Lt. Col. Christopher L'Heureux, who leads the Nato base in Poland, told the Journal that he found evidence of someone with a Russian IP address attempting to access his phone. "They were geolocating me, whoever it was," he said. "I was like, 'What the heck is this?'"

Top 5 Russian hacker groups that have wreaked havoc in cyberspace

This is not the first time that Russia has been accused of targeting Nato in cyberspace. In 2015, Germany accused Russia of having conducted cyberespionage campaigns against Nato as well as various international governments.

Over the past few years, Russian hackers have also targeted journalists, activists, dissidents and critics of Russian president Vladimir Putin. These attacks indicate that the cyberattacks against Nato may have been perpetrated by Russian state-sponsored hackers.