Jog all those notions of war-time security

Discretion is the better part of valour. Or so we have been told. But in the age of 'If you didn't post it, it didn't happen,' vanity could well be the better part of valour.

A French naval officer aboard the $4 bn nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle decided his 35-min deck jog was simply too heroic to keep classified. By leaving his tracking app Strava profile set to 'public', he didn't just show off his cardio, but turned the massive warship into an active war sitting duck in the Mediterranean during war.

To give le joggeur his due, the man's in shipshape, clocking over 7 km in 35 mins. But while he was hunting for fire emojis, he inadvertently invited global intelligence to join his cooldown.


His bosses might offer something more permanent than a slap on the wrist for breaking every Opsec (operational security, for those who haven't read their Alistair MacLeans) protocol in the book. This isn't a new glitch, either. In 2017, analysts found that Strava's data maps were detailed enough to expose secret US bases by tracking workout routes of soldiers who couldn't resist a leaderboard.

The incident shows two things: there's nothing called foolproof security. There's always someone who can't keep their 5K personal best to themselves. But, maybe, we should also thank them for exposing loopholes and keeping everyone on their toes.