Multiple defense officials told DefenseScoop Sunday that a viral message purporting to be from U.S. Cyber Command wasn’t sent by the command. The message claimed Cybercom was warning troops to turn off location services from their electronic devices and that multiple commercial applications were compromised, all amid the ongoing military operations against Iran.
The message — reviewed by DefenseScoop — was circulating in some military circles and social media Sunday. It urged “all U.S. service members” to turn off location services from their electronic devices. It also said that Uber, Snapchat and a food delivery service that operates in the Middle East known as Talabat were “compromised.”
“Due to operational security concerns, U.S. Cyber Command does not comment nor discuss cyber intelligence, plans, operations, capabilities, or effects,” one official told DefenseScoop, requesting attribution as a Department of War official, the preferred name for the Pentagon under the Trump administration. “The command did not issue messages to US service members to turn off location services on their electronic devices and did not issue messages that applications had been compromised.”
The statement did not address where the correspondence originated from and why it was circulating in the military community.
Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, said the message was “false.” Centcom is responsible for overseeing U.S. military operations in the Middle East.
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