Ban: Social media use of employees to stop spying; Smartphone banned on Navy base, dockyard, and ship

The Navy has ordered employees to stop using social media to avoid online spying. According to the Navy, in the past 7 employees were caught leaking sensitive information through social media to the enemy country. Due to this, strict steps have been taken. Officers also banned the use of smartphones on Navy bases, dockyards and warships.

As per the order, now the naval messaging app will not be able to open networking and blogging apps, content sharing, hosting and e-commerce websites. According to reports, the purpose of this ban is to protect the marines from threats like a honey trap on social media in the coming times.

Intelligence agencies arrested 7 navy personnel from Andhra Pradesh
The Andhra Pradesh Police arrested 7 Navy personnel on 20 December. They are all accused of spying for Pakistan. The Central Intelligence Agencies and Naval Intelligence Department jointly conducted a campaign called ‘Dolphin’s Nose’ to catch them. The spy racket was detected through this. The investigating agencies also detained the hawala operator in this case. All the accused were remanded to judicial custody till 3 January by the NIA court in Vijayawada. Some other suspects are still being questioned in this case.

The accused came in contact with the handler from the social networking site
According to media reports, all the accused joined the Navy in 2017. In September 2018, three to four women came into contact with the social networking site. The women later introduced him to the Pakistani handler as a businessman, who started receiving confidential naval information from him.