Researchers used fake social media accounts to influence NATO troops during military exercise

By Ryan Browne, CNN

(CNN)Researchers were able to use fake Facebook and Instagram accounts to "instill undesirable behavior" among NATO troops participating in an exercise, according to a report published this week.

The goal of the experiment, which was conducted by NATO's Strategic Communications Center of Excellence, was to "exploit social media and open source data to gather information on and influence military personnel during a military exercise."

"The level of personal detail we found was very detailed and enabled us to instill undesirable behavior during the exercise," the report said, adding that the scope of the experiment was "limited" when compared to "large-scale efforts such as the work undertaken by the Kremlin's Internet Research Agency to influence the US presidential election 2016."
...

The armoury is part of a huge military economic footprint in the city

Paul Withers · CBC News · Posted: Jan 23, 2019


Halifax may be known as a navy town but on Wednesday the Canadian Army showed off a big addition to its presence in the city — a new $55-million armoury.

Nova Scotia's newly minted federal cabinet minister Bernadette Jordan and other dignitaries officially opened the Willow Park armoury.

"We are making strategic investments in critical infrastructure across the country to increase the size of our reserve forces by 1,500 members," Jordan said. "Our government is proud to invest in a strong and modern and capable reserve force. This $55-million investment in Willow Park is part of that effort."


Who will use it?

The armoury is a new training home for 300 people serving in three army reserve units: 36 Service Battalion (logistics), 36 Signal Regiment (communications) and 33 Field Ambulance (medics).

Col. John MacDonald of 36 Brigade is in charge of these citizen soldiers.

"They're your neighbours. They are civil servants, they are teachers and many are students — high school, university — which allows them ... to take advantage of the full-time summer employment program and work as much or as little of the summer as they want to help offset tuition cost," MacDonald said.


DND a key construction industry client

Bird Construction built the armoury and is finishing another project of similar size — a new fleet training school for the navy at nearby Stadacona.

Speaking after the armoury ribbon cutting, operations manager John Duggan said the military is a key client for his company throughout the Atlantic region.

"This project, in particular, was 250 people that had jobs because of it and you know there's multiple projects and we're not the only general contractor that builds for DND," Duggan said.

"The military has an economic footprint of hundreds of millions of dollars," said CFB Halifax commander Capt. David Mazur.

In the 2016-17 year, the Department of Defence carried out a socio-economic impact analysis of CFB Halifax and 12 Wing Shearwater.

According to the analysis, the base spent $684 million locally in 2014-15, accounting for nearly 10 per cent of Halifax's GDP.

"We have about 11,000 military and civilian people that work in and around CFB Halifax," Mazur said.


Armoury green like their uniforms

Like all new DND buildings, the Willow Park armoury was built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standards, which includes high efficiency heating and cooling systems.

DND is striving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its buildings and non-military vehicles by 40 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.

Willow Park will be used by reservists from across Atlantic Canada.

If convicted, person who made false report in N.W.T. could face prison time

Hilary Bird · CBC News · Posted: Jan 21, 2019



Search and rescue teams board a Hercules aircraft in Yellowknife on Jan. 10 to search for a snowmobiler who reported himself missing. The RCMP subsequently deemed that the report was false. (Submitted by Shai Topaz)


A week and a half-long search for a missing snowmobiler, which turned out to be based on a false call, cost the Canadian Armed Forces almost $88,000, according to an official.

RCMP in Hay River, N.W.T., said they received a distress call just before midnight on Jan. 7 from a man claiming to be lost on his snowmobile. The line was poor and it was difficult to make out what he was saying, but police identified him as 20-year-old Shawn Lafferty.

Last week, police said they had determined the call was "fake." RCMP say they are still investigating who made the call.

Police said it came from a tower near Behchoko and the man was believed to be in the area of Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Providence, Behchoko or Whati.

Shortly after they received the call on Jan. 7, police launched air and ground searches for the missing man, focusing on areas with cabins.

Two days later, the Royal Canadian Air Force sent a CC-130 Hercules aircraft from Winnipeg, along with a seven-person crew to help with the search.

Lt. Jeff Lura, with the Canadian Armed Forces, told CBC News that the cost of the 13.5 hour flight was just under $88,000.

"Thankfully, though a response turned out to be unnecessary in this case, it did not jeopardize any other [search and rescue] demands with the region," Lura wrote in an email.

Local volunteers with the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association also took part in the operation. Over two days, nine volunteers spent more than 10 hours looking for the missing snowmobiler.

Behchoko RCMP wouldn't say how many of its officers were involved in the search or how much it cost.


Could face prison time

Under the Criminal Code of Canada, anyone who makes a false report like this one can be charged with public mischief and, if convicted, could spend up to five years in prison.

Two years ago in Saskatchewan a woman was convicted of public mischief after helping her husband fake his own death. For days, searchers, aircraft and an underwater dive team looked for the man, who was actually living 130 kilometres away.

His wife, Michelle Ross, was sentenced to four months of house arrest and ordered to pay $10,000 to the Search and Rescue Saskatchewan Association of Volunteers to cover the cost of the search.