Belgian army in the limelight
Secrecy is an asset among the military. Except in Belgium apparently. The Belgian army has publicly released plans for its future HQ. They were visible online, to everyone, for 48 hours.
The Belgian army will build a new HQ for 2027. Headquarters of the Defense, this building will notably accommodate Belgium's military strategists. However, its plans were published on the website of the authorities in charge of granting building permits. As part of this public inquiry, everyone was able to see diagrams with the traffic plans and all accesses to the buildings. However, the architect's plan had been "cleaned" since it didn't show each room's layout or its role. According to Belgian Defense, no sensitive data were on these documents.
Investigation
The Belgian army has however admitted to having been surprised to discover thfreeat access to these plans. It was a journalist from the daily newspaper La Dernière Heure who raised the issue. Since then, the documents have been removed from online consultation. They remained online for 48 hours. Nothing will be able to prevent the possible dissemination or use of what was downloaded before the access restriction. An investigation has been opened.
(MH with Olivier Duquesne – Source: La Dernière Heure – Picture: © Groupement Be Defence)