Report Says Iran Exploited Telecom Network Flaws to Track U.S. Military Personnel

Iran allegedly exploited longstanding weaknesses in global mobile telecommunications networks to track the locations of U.S. military personnel in the Middle East before and during the early stages of the Iran War, according to a report published by the Financial Times.

The report said Iranian authorities exploited vulnerabilities in Signalling System 7 (SS7), a signalling protocol used by 2G and 3G cellular networks to route calls and text messages between mobile operators worldwide. Citing research from the Mobile Surveillance Monitor and anonymous government officials familiar with the campaign, the newspaper reported that Iran used the technology to identify the locations of U.S. forces.

SS7 has long been recognised as a weakness in the global telecommunications infrastructure. Intelligence agencies from multiple countries have previously exploited the protocol to track mobile phones outside their borders, making it a well-documented surveillance technique.

According to the report, Iran used the location data to identify U.S. military personnel at bases and hotels in Iraq, Bahrain, and other parts of the Middle East. The information reportedly helped the Iranian regime conduct strikes that resulted in several injuries.

The Financial Times also reported that Iran employed another established surveillance method by exploiting advertising technology that delivers personalised advertisements to mobile devices. That technique can generate location data based on users’ interactions with advertising networks and has previously been highlighted by cybersecurity researchers as a potential privacy risk.

The reported activity underscores how legacy telecommunications systems and widely used digital advertising technologies can be leveraged for surveillance purposes when exploited by state actors.