Indian Army asks soldiers to delete 89 apps; Facebook, PUBG, Instagram knocked out

The Indian Army has asked its personnel to delete 89 apps from their phones that include Facebook, TikTok, PUBGand Instagram.

It comes days after the government banned 59 Chinese apps following the India-China stand-off at Galwan Valley. The Army has added more apps to the list to plug the leak of classified information. India is not the first country to resort to this move, several militaries across the world have been pulling their guard against suspicious apps.

Soldiers with smartphones can be easy targets for the enemy especially at a border with war-mongering China. Cell phones are fearfully insecure with simple malware trap it could reveal strategic locations and positions. The Indian army has therefore banned the use of 89 apps with some very popular ones like Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

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Now, soldiers must immediately uninstall them from video-streaming apps like Zoom to dating apps like Tinder. In fact, the armed forces had banned TikTok and Wechat much before the Indian government. For soldiers, a smartphone can be a morale booster but it can also undermine operational security. India is not the only country that has banned apps for the army. Countries like Turkey and Russia have banned the use of smartphones altogether at forward posts.

China warned its troops against cab-hailing apps saying they pose security risks. GPS detectors could pass on the user's location and personal information. China claimed hackers were collecting location data around military installations. In January, the US defence forces banned TikTok after a Pentagon directive. Now, the US navy has gone on a Twitter rant advising its sailors to notuse TikTok.

"Guard up" says the Naval chief of information, "you don't need to be a think-tank expert to know that information control is important to the Chinese govt" the naval information chief added.

In 2017, Israeli Army had launched a smartphone for its soldiers, the encrypted phones allowed soldiers to send text messages, images and e-mails securely but since 2017, Hamas has tried thrice to honeytrap Israeli defence staff through dating apps. They attempted to dupe troops by posing as Israeli women. Now, Israel has put up posters in barracks saying "the enemy is listening, don't let Hamas entice you."

In 2016, Indonesia banned police and military personnel from playing pokemon go. The move came after a Frenchman entered a military base hunting for virtual pocket monsters which isdone by visiting real-world sites, guided by the app.

Just a week before the police had fought off a gunman and foiled a suicide bombing attempt outside a police station. Some intelligence agencies are not only tracking troop movements, they also follow individuals when they go home.

Some NATO personnel in the Baltics and their families were apparently traced by Russian entities. Enemies will always exploit vulnerabilities - technological and human - smartphone apps expose both the weaknesses at once as social media posts can help find and track soldiers and pull the curtain on military activity.