I heard a news story today (which is why I chose the "News") about how the Soccer Ball that Putin gave Trump contained a device that could potentially be hacked. After reading the story though I doubt it could have been used by anyone for nefarious means but with technology today I suppose it's possible. An NFC (Near Field Communication) device, by its very nature, can only be read by someone within inches of the device. It's like apple pay or android pay where people can pay with their cell phones. So after reading the story and given the security perimeter around the White House, I doubt it could have been of any benefit to any enemy or person.
I think it would be a mistake to release such a story. Let's say that the Ball, or any gift, was equipped with a device that was capable of being read and retrieved or intercepted the mistake would be putting it out to anyone else, especially the news. If you knew an enemy had your office or had something bugged so as to intercept your communications knowing about it gives you a huge advantage. Being able to feed your enemy with fake/false information is just as important, if not more, than being able to keep silent and secret. It was the false information and false attack indications given to Hitler in World War II that made D-Day's attack so successful. Even when Hitler was advised of the attack he refused to allow movement of Tank divisions because he was so sure the landing was coming from a different location. I believe that the whole story was a non-issue anyway and is something of nothing because I don't think it was a purposeful plant, by Putin, in the first place and I think someone, in Russia, is having a huge laugh over this being broadcast as news.
