British soldier was court-martialed after ignoring an order to remove his SIM card and being blackmailed with stolen photos

Daniel Barton-Kennedy ignored an order to remove his phone’s SIM card before deployment to Estonia, about 90 miles from the Russian border. His phone was hacked, and stolen nude photos were used to blackmail him; he later pleaded guilty to disobeying a lawful command and was reduced in rank and sentenced to 10 months in detention.

The case shows the personal consequences of bypassing a specific operational-security measure: removing the SIM was intended to limit phone-related exposure, and ignoring the order left Barton-Kennedy vulnerable to blackmail. The report does not explain how the phone was hacked or whether removing the SIM would have prevented the attack.