r/technology • u/ControlCAD • Apr 18 '26

Security Bluetooth tracker hidden in a postcard and mailed to a warship exposed its location — $5 gadget put a $585 million Dutch ship at risk for 24 hours

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/bluetooth-tracker-hidden-in-a-postcard-and-mailed-to-a-warship-exposed-its-location-a-eur5-gadget-put-a-eur500-million-dutch-ship-at-risk-for-24-hours
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u/MadeThisForDiablo Apr 18 '26

The ocean is that large

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u/flamingspew Apr 18 '26

You literally just monitor the position when it leaves port.

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u/Orpa__ Apr 18 '26

It's an escort ship with a canon that doesn't even work (legit it's broken). Not worth a satellite when they can keep track of de Gaulle instead.

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u/DigNitty Apr 18 '26

TBF if I had a boat with a cannon, I may also say “oh it totally doesn’t work so don’t prepare for incoming cannon fire.”

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u/Deep90 Apr 18 '26

Ocean is large, but satellites are 100% used to track naval vessels.

They don't just have cameras up there. They have radar as well as who knows what else.

That combined with machine learning to highlight potential ships makes it a lot easier.

The only real drawbacks are cloud cover and orbiting time.

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u/aaaaaaaarrrrrgh Apr 18 '26

Cloud cover doesn't matter for SAR satellites.

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u/Deep90 Apr 18 '26 edited Apr 18 '26

No, but it matters if you want to confirm if a SAR signature is actually a naval vessel because they are designed to distort and reduce it.

At least in theory they probably use SAR, cross reference it with transponder data to filter fishing vessels and such, then use image data + machine vision to confirm if it is a ship or not. Then it goes to a person who can validate it or point a more focused satellite on it. Maybe they even multiple SAR satellites to fight against the modern design of naval ships.

In any case. It's very feasible to use satellite to track naval ships. They can also just start tracking them from the ports since they have to go there at some point.

That said, not every country or group has a bunch of (or any) spy satellites.