Iran allegedly exploited weaknesses in decades-old telecommunications technology to track the mobile phones of US military personnel across the Middle East during its conflict with the United States and Israel, according to a report by The New York Times.The findings, based on data from the Mobile Surveillance Monitor research initiative and first reported by the Financial Times, suggest Iran launched a coordinated cyber campaign that used vulnerabilities in global phone networks to identify the locations of US service members and contractors stationed across the region. Cybersecurity experts say the operation demonstrates a significant evolution in Tehran’s cyberwarfare capabilities at a time of heightened military tensions.The revelations come as the US intensifies military operations against Iran, reimposing a naval blockade and carrying out fresh airstrikes, while both sides continue to exchange attacks that have raised fears of a wider regional conflict centred around the Strait of Hormuz.
Exploiting ageing telecom systems
According to The New York Times, researchers detected a surge of signalling requests passing through Signalling System No. 7 (SS7), a telecommunications protocol introduced in the 1970s that has long been criticised for its weak security.Gary Miller, founder of the nonprofit behind the Mobile Surveillance Monitor initiative, said the data pointed to a “coordinated attack campaign”. The signalling requests sought location information for phones connected to local mobile networks across the Middle East, including in Bahrain, where thousands of US troops are stationed.Experts told the newspaper the activity strongly suggested Iran was attempting to locate US military personnel who were using local SIM cards rather than secure military communications.Nikita Shah, a cybersecurity researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the campaign reflected a growing level of sophistication. “Iran has become quite creative in the last couple of years, and especially in this conflict,” she said. “For me, this signals a step up in sophistication.”
Cyber campaign unfolds amid military escalation
The reported surveillance campaign comes as fighting between Iran and the US continues to intensify. On Wednesday, US forces reimposed a naval blockade on Iran and carried out fresh strikes, including an attack on an Iranian army barracks in Sistan and Baluchestan province that Iranian officials said killed seven troops and wounded hundreds of people nationwide.Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has threatened to halt all energy exports from the Middle East in response to the blockade, while missile exchanges have continued across the Gulf, including alerts in Bahrain and Kuwait.Although Iranian cyber operations have traditionally been viewed as less sophisticated than those linked to Russia or China, analysts say the latest operation demonstrates Tehran’s increasing ability to combine cyber tools with conventional military strategy, creating new risks for US personnel deployed within range of Iranian missiles. The reported use of telecommunications infrastructure to identify potential targets underscores how cyberwarfare is becoming an increasingly important front in the broader confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
