{"id":128798,"date":"2026-05-29T02:21:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T02:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/troops-phones-leaked-location-data-to-foreign-adversaries\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T02:22:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T02:22:30","slug":"troops-phones-leaked-location-data-to-foreign-adversaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/troops-phones-leaked-location-data-to-foreign-adversaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Troops\u2019 phones leaked location data to foreign adversaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Safety<\/p>\n

Lawmakers push DoD to tighten smartphone controls after adversaries exploited industrial monitoring information<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Getting the placement of troops at conflict is perhaps as simple as shopping for\u00a0the info from a professional enterprise. America\u2019s overseas adversaries have exploited industrial geolocation information tied to US troops, the Pentagon admits, utilizing it to focus on or surveil US personnel within the Center East. Regardless of that, the Protection Division hasn\u2019t precisely moved quick to safe the data, elected officers say.<\/p>\n

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Consultant Pat Harrigan (R-NC), and a dozen different Congress critters despatched a letter<\/a> to DoD CIO Kirsten Davies on Thursday, demanding a change in smartphone safety posture amongst US army branches. Included within the letter is what lawmakers describe as the primary public affirmation that industrial location information has been used to focus on or surveil American troops in lively conflict zones. The knowledge was shared with Wyden\u2019s workplace in April.<\/p>\n

The rationale for the delay in publishing the data, Wyden\u2019s crew instructed The Register<\/span>, was as a consequence of \u201cmarkings that restricted public launch,\u201d which Wyden reportedly pushed again on, resulting in Thursday\u2019s letter and the connected responses<\/a> [PDF] from the DoD confirming data bought from industrial information brokers was used to focus on troops.<\/p>\n

\u201cUSCENTCOM [US Central Command] has acquired a number of menace studies regarding adversary exploitation of economic location information to focus on or surveil US personnel in theater,\u201d the DoD\u2019s responses from April point out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for a way precisely information brokers received entry to the info that allowed adversaries to find troops and their actions, they received it from the identical sources as anybody else shopping for information from a industrial dealer: Smartphone promoting profiles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In line with the DoD responses included in Wyden\u2019s letter, not solely are US army personnel allowed to make use of private gadgets inside operational areas, there\u2019s no precise coverage that requires servicemembers to show off geolocation capabilities on their gadgets when situated in lively conflict zones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUSCENTCOM’s geolocation threat steerage directs personnel to disable geolocation performance when not wanted; periodically evaluation gadget and software privateness settings; and restrict public sharing of data,\u201d the DoD stated final month, whereas concurrently admitting that such steerage doesn\u2019t all the time absolutely disable geolocation on smartphones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Along with personally-owned gadgets, the DoD\u2019s personal issued smartphones don\u2019t disable promoting profiles, both.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Customized Promoting setting is disabled by group coverage on the Cellular Gadget Administration Server,\u201d the DoD instructed Wyden\u2019s crew. \u201cNevertheless, Advert Concentrating on Info isn’t disabled and may be edited by a consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not probably the most simple reply, and, once we requested Wyden\u2019s crew what it considered the response, it agreed with our evaluation that the Pentagon\u2019s MDM disables the serving of non-public adverts to customers, however doesn\u2019t cease the transmission of gadget promoting IDs or different related information.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The DoD famous within the response that it\u2019s within the strategy of migrating to a brand new MDM answer that permits location companies to be fully disabled on government-issued gadgets and was concentrating on a completion date of early Could, although it\u2019s not clear whether or not the method has been completed but. The Pentagon declined to reply any of our questions, solely saying it might reply to Wyden, not us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s additionally not clear how efficient that MDM migration shall be, because the DoD seems to be phasing out government-issued gadgets in favor of a broader BYOD coverage in no less than one department. In line with a US Military press release<\/a> from earlier this month, the department is concentrating on the top of this month for the return of Military-managed work smartphones, as \u201cthe first and most popular technique for connectivity is the Convey Your Personal Gadget, or BYOD, program.\u201d<\/p>\n

CENTCOM has reportedly strengthened its geolocation controls in its space of operations; whether or not the common soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine\u00a0is complying isn\u2019t indicated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve identified about this for a way lengthy?!<\/h3>\n

Failure to stop the publicity of delicate location information of army belongings could possibly be forgivable if it had been a brand new downside, however in line with Wyden\u2019s letter, it\u2019s not: The Pentagon seemingly knew in regards to the situation for a decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In line with the letter, authorities contractors briefed army management in regards to the ease of monitoring smartphones owned by army members means again in 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDoD officers haven’t handled this counterintelligence and drive safety menace as a five-alarm hearth,\u201d the letter asserts, including that the Pentagon \u201chas identified about this menace for over a decade, but have didn’t take significant steps to guard our women and men in uniform.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not like there haven\u2019t been loads of examples of sloppy location information administration compromising army operations, both. Information culled from exercise monitoring app Strava<\/a> has been used to determine the exercise routes of US army personnel jogging on base – and reveal the placement of French President Emmanuel Macron due to his bodyguards\u2019 sloppy security practices<\/a> – and social media<\/a> has also been flagged<\/a> as an OPSEC catastrophe ready to occur.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Regardless of all these examples and briefings going again a decade, the issue has continued proper as much as the most recent operations in Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat overseas adversaries are nonetheless capable of purchase location information collected from the telephones of U.S. personnel serving in army hotspots is a direct results of DoD management\u2019s failure to prioritize this menace and implement commonsense cyber defenses,\u201d the letter costs. Whether or not something shall be performed about it stays to be seen. \u00ae<\/p>\n<\/div>\n