Truth behind claim Department of War urged troops to immediately 'turn off location' on their devices

While some thought the conflict between Iran and Israel was over, thanks to June 2025's 12-day war being forgotten by many, things have been ignited once again.

President Donald Trump has been accused of tossing a Molotov cocktail into proceedings after Operation Epic Fury launched a series of coordinated attacks on the cities of Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, Karaj, and Kermanshah.

As the USA and Israel celebrated the assassination of the second supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, Iran's retaliation has been just as devastating.

There's already been controversy about OpenAI's new deal with the US military, although it's thought that the outgoing Anthropic tech was used in the strikes. Flights have been grounded, while an Amazon data center in the UAE has potentially been caught in the crossfire.

Given the concentration of big tech companies in the Middle East, there are fears about what futuristic fallout there could be caused by the next big global conflict. We've already seen some of this, with misinformation being easily spread through the likes of X (formerly Twitter).

The internet was instantly in a flap when a message supposedly from U.S. Cyber Command appeared to tell troops to turn off location settings on their devices. As well as telling those in service to disable location services, the message claimed that apps like Uber and Snapchat had been 'compromised'. There are further claims that a Middle East food delivery service known as Talabat had also been breached.

Given how easy it is for hackers to exploit location data, this obviously started a panic. This was unfounded, with the message being spread through military circles by incorrect sources.

As reported by DefenseScoop, U.S. Cyber Command has reiterated that it sent no such message. In a statement, the Department of Defense's organization reiterated: "Due to operational security concerns, U.S. Cyber Command does not comment nor discuss cyber intelligence, plans, operations, capabilities, or effects.

"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 outlet notes that Cyber Command doesn't reveal where the phony message first came from and how it caught on so quickly.

As a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, Capt. Tim Hawkins reiterated that the message was 'false', while an Uber spokesperson added: "We have no indication that this rumor is true regarding Uber."

The popular ride-hailing service also took to social media and responded to accounts sharing the message that it had been compromised by saying it's an 'unsubstantiated rumor'.

Finally, while Snapchat told DefenseScoop that it also doesn't think the original message is legitimate, Talabat didn't reply to a request for comment by the time of publication.

A message shared on the official X account for Central Command read: "Two days. Multiple bogus claims by the Iranian regime. ZERO truth."

Still, the way in which the message spread, and given how many people believed it, there are concerns about Iran's cyber capabilities. This was previously shared by the Middle East Institute. In the aftermath of the 12-day war, the Washington-based think tank warned: "Iran has refined its use of digital tools to shape the battlespace, control domestic narratives, and project influence abroad."

There were fears about how the Iranian people would get their information after the government cut off the internet, leading to Elon Musk activating his Starlink satellites to bring communication back to the region.

Musk's Grok even waded into the latest situation and concluded: "This isn't valid. It's a viral hoax spreading today amid Iran ops. Defense officials (via DefenseScoop) confirm Cyber Command issued no such message or app warnings.

"The "Department of War" image is a meme edit, not official. Old 2018 DoD rules restricted GPS in deployed zones only—not a new stateside "urgent order" for all personnel. Check war.gov for real announcements."

Iran has been accused of amplifying and sharing disinformation to slow down enemy operations and spread fear, although it's important to remember it's unclear where the faux Cyber Command message originated.