Iran War Shows Adversaries Can Exploit Big Data, Too
Iran War Shows Adversaries Can Exploit Big Data, Too
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/iran-war-shows-adversaries-can-exploit-big-data–too
Publish Date: 2026-06-22 13:33:00
Source Domain: www.lawfaremedia.org
As the war between the United States and Iran reaches a ceasefire, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has received reports of an alarming activity, the first known of its kind: a U.S. adversary using commercial location data to track and target U.S. forces in the Middle East. This likely refers to data on the latitude, longitude, and identifiers of a specific mobile device, obtained via advertising technology, data-selling, or other systems. It is far more than an isolated incident in one region. An adversary, likely Iran, using commercial location data in this fashion—tapping into the sea of commercial data to enable military or intelligence operations—spotlights a major vulnerability in the United States’ digital footprint.
Some in the U.S. government may view the availability of open-source and commercial data as wholly advantageous to U.S. national security, thinking only about how open data could be used for U.S. missions. But the Iran war has exposed just how easily U.S. foreign adversaries can access much of the same data for their own ends—including tracking and targeting military service members. Decision-makers must overhaul their data security thinking to plug current gaps and mitigate these risks in future security and warfare.
Open-source information has absolutely exploded online in the past few decades. This data, accessible without a paywall to anyone with an internet connection, spans websites, public-facing social media sites, free commercial satellite imagery platforms, and even artificial intelligence (AI) models that let users query them, for free, without an account. Some open information sources are global in reach and coverage, such as Meta’s Facebook or Google’s free Google Earth. Other sources are more region specific, such as the social media platforms VK in Russia and Weibo in China (even though their “open” nature is variable if you are not within the country in question).
Beyond what anyone with an…
