The Iranian government exploited longstanding vulnerabilities in global mobile networks to track and locate U.S. military personnel ahead of and during the early stages of the Iran War, according to a report by the Financial Times. Citing research from the Mobile Surveillance Monitor and anonymous government officials, the campaign relied on abuses of telecom infrastructure that intelligence agencies have used for years to monitor cellphones abroad.
Central to the effort was Signaling System 7, or SS7, a set of protocols underlying 2G and 3G networks that enables cellular carriers worldwide to route calls and texts. By leveraging SS7 weaknesses, Iranian actors could pinpoint the locations of U.S. forces. This allowed the regime to identify personnel at military bases and hotels across Iraq, Bahrain, and other Middle Eastern countries.
The location data facilitated targeted strikes against these positions, resulting in several injuries among U.S. military members. In addition to SS7, Iran misused advertising technology designed to deliver personalized ads to mobile users—another established surveillance method that repurposes everyday commercial tools for intelligence gathering.
The revelations underscore persistent security gaps in legacy telecom systems and commercial ad tech that nation-states continue to weaponize for geopolitical and military advantage in conflict zones.