Cyber Attackers Seized Top Space Force Officer's Instagram Account to Spread Pro-Iranian, Anti-American Propaganda

Summary

On Sunday, hackers gained unauthorized access to the Instagram account of Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna, using it to disseminate pro-Iranian and anti-American propaganda for several hours before the content was removed by early Monday morning with assistance from Meta. The posted content included Islamic religious imagery, audio from Vietnam War-era propagandist "Hanoi Hannah" with Arabic captions threatening American military presence in the Middle East, references to deceased Iranian officials, and even a Game of Thrones image bearing Arabic text associated with a group called the "Army of the Red One." The same hackers also targeted the former White House Instagram account associated with Barack Obama, posting similar imagery including a photo of slain Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani with a caption claiming "The White House is under Shiites' control." Space Force confirmed the breach but declined to specify the duration of unauthorized access or identify the perpetrators, while both Bentivegna and official spokespersons used the incident as an opportunity to emphasize the importance of personal and organizational cybersecurity vigilance. The attack is part of a broader pattern of cyber and physical threats targeting U.S. military personnel, including location data exploitation and direct threats linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.