Iran built a vast network of surveillance cameras to control dissent, and the Associated Press reported that Israel later turned those systems into a targeting tool as fighting intensified, including in the operation that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The AP said the episode underscores how camera networks—often installed in public spaces, retail storefronts, and homes—are increasingly vulnerable in wartime when adversaries can access, search, and operationalize the footage.
The AP reported that on Feb. 28, Israel demonstrated that capability by tracking down Khamenei with the help of Tehran’s street cameras, despite repeated warnings that Iran’s surveillance systems had been compromised. The report said intelligence officials described the use of the hacked cameras among other intelligence gathered for the operation, and that two officials described the matter to AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The AP also described how, according to those briefed, the traffic-camera access had a practical role in the targeting process. One person told AP that for years almost all the traffic cameras in Tehran had been hacked and that information from them was transferred to servers in Israel. The AP reported that at least one compromised camera was positioned in a way that could capture daily movement patterns, including where people parked cars near Iran’s leadership compound.
In addition to identifying movement, the AP said the operation used algorithms to help generate intelligence, including addresses, routes to work, and information about who protected key figures. The AP reported that one of the briefed people said the attack had been planned for months, but that it was expedited once it was determined that Khamenei and his top officials would be in the leadership compound that morning.
The AP’s reporting framed the development in the context of a broader security dilemma for governments and for camera owners. Conor Healy, director of research at surveillance research publication IPVM, said Khamenei’s killing illustrates that dilemma and warned that the kind of surveillance infrastructure authoritarian states build can also make leaders more visible to people trying to kill them. Healy told AP, “The irony is that the infrastructure authoritarian states build to make their rule unassailable may be what makes their leaders most visible to the people trying to kill them,” and added, “Do you trust who is watching?”
Cybersecurity experts have long warned that the same camera networks can be hacked for war, the AP reported, pointing to Paul Marrapese, a security engineer who said in 2019 he could hack millions of cameras from his home in California. The AP reported that Marrapese told AP that this year a scan of unprotected camera feeds found nearly three million hits across almost every country, including nearly 2,000 cameras in Iran. Marrapese said many cameras are “trivially easy to hack,” calling them “dumb little things” and “fish in a barrel.”
The AP said securing cameras requires continuous vigilance, while hacking can hinge on finding just one weakness, such as an outdated system or a generic password like “1234.” The report also said that even when governments use networks designed to be sealed off from the internet, they can still be compromised through an insider who turns against their system.
The AP further reported that artificial intelligence has lowered a major barrier to using hacked video for targeting by improving the speed at which footage can be searched and processed. Bruce Schneier, a cryptographer and security expert, told AP that the shift matters because it changes what can be automated: “It used to be that you could hack the cameras, but humans had to do the real work of figuring out where the person was,” Schneier said. “With AI systems … you can do a lot more automatically.”
The AP described a pattern of real-world precedents that moved camera hacking from theory to practice. It reported that in 2023, Hamas hacked surveillance cameras in southern Israel before its Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli media, and that a Ukrainian official later told reporters Russia attempted to hijack cameras near missile targets in 2023. The AP said that in 2024, Russians hacked cameras in Kyiv, and that in 2025 they hacked cameras at border crossings.
In Iran, the AP said cameras have been repeatedly hacked and that the issue has come alongside an expanding reliance on surveillance. The report said a group of Iranian exiles leaked footage of abuses at Tehran’s Evin prison in 2021, and that in 2022 another group claimed it had hacked more than 5,000 cameras around Tehran and posted material on Telegram. The AP also cited Iran’s increased use of surveillance cameras after protests, including in January when nationwide demonstrations ended with a deadly crackdown that killed many thousands, according to the AP.
The AP reported that Iranian lawmakers and an Israeli documentary described Israel using Tehran’s cameras during a 12-day war last summer to track and bomb a meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, injuring Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. It also reported that Mahmoud Nabavian, deputy chairman of Iran’s parliament’s national security committee, said in September that “All the cameras at our intersections are in the hands of Israel” and that “Everything on the internet is in their hands … if we move, they will find out.”
The AP said researchers also connect Iran’s vulnerabilities to difficulties in getting up-to-date surveillance hardware and software, including reliance on Chinese-manufactured electronics and older systems, and that pirated versions of software can make systems easier for hackers to target. Michael Caster, a researcher who investigated China’s sales of surveillance technology to Iran, told AP that malicious parties can more easily gain access.
At the same time, AP reported that Israel also faces persistent cyber pressure from Iran, with Eyal Hulata, Israel’s former national security adviser and a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, telling AP, “There is high alert on all cyber fronts.” Col. Amit Assa, a former Shin Bet domestic security official, told AP that operations rely on multiple intelligence sources but that cameras play a key role because they help confirm identities when deciding whether to strike. Assa said, “When you see a person’s face on a screen in the command center, it helps in making the decision to put your ‘finger on the yellow button, as we say,’.”
Finally, the AP reported that such intrusions are occurring as global camera deployment accelerates. Check Point Research said Iranian hacking attacks on cameras have spiked since the war began, including surges of activity in Israel and in Gulf countries such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Gil Messing, Check Point Research’s chief of staff, told AP, “The more people are installing cameras … the more area is being covered by these cameras,” adding, “It is very easy to use in order to get extra eyes into different places.”
Analysts estimate there are more than one billion security cameras installed worldwide, the AP reported, and that the number is now triple what it was a decade ago. Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, told AP that while hacking has long been a concern in the Middle East, its increasing use since the war began is “a wake-up call,” while adding that there is only so much that can be patched once systems are compromised.