Mapping apps used by US troops and those of allies vulnerable to Chinese and Russian hacking

Washington Free Beacon:

The government's top watchdog agency on Tuesday warned President Donald Trump and Congress that two war-fighting mapping applications widely used in combat, and disseminated to U.S. allies, have made U.S. troops vulnerable to cyberattacks by Russia, China, and other hostile actors.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), an internal investigative and prosecutorial agency that operates independently from other government agencies, "fully substantiated" whistleblower warnings first reported by the Washington Free Beacon in late October, the OSC said in its release on the matter. It was the first time the OSC has weighed in publicly on its nearly year-and-a-half investigation into the matter.

The OSC specifically faulted top Navy leaders for failing to warn U.S. military personnel and to take the necessary steps to try to protect sensitive data from being hacked. The mapping apps are used to accelerate precision targeting and facilitate situational awareness and data-sharing between ground forces and overhead aircraft.

"When Navy leadership was made aware of software vulnerabilities, it failed to take sufficient action to warn U.S. military personnel or to safeguard sensitive data," Special Counsel Henry Kerner said in a statement. "Thanks to a brave whistleblower who spoke up, the Navy is now taking the cyber threat posed by these apps seriously and ensuring security measures are in place."

The investigation found that two mapping software apps, known as KILSWITCH and APASS, were "broadly used in military operations" and have "significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities that have not been effectively mitigated."
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Apparently, the hardware the apps are used on is also vulnerable.  These seem a long way from the paper topographical maps used in Vietnam where "waypoints" were used to disguise locations from enemy troops intercepting radio conversations.