Iranian interference in the 2024 United States elections
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The Iranian government has allegedly interfered in the 2024 United States elections through social media efforts and hacking operations.[1]
In June 2024, the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, and the re-election campaign of Joe Biden, the president of United States, were allegedly targets of a hacking operation.[2] According to Microsoft, a high-ranking official to a U.S. presidential campaign fell victim to a spear phishing attack perpetrated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating the hack.[3] U.S. intelligence agencies stated they were confident that the hacks were perpetrated by Iran on August 19.[4]
Background
[edit]On August 8,[a] 2024, Microsoft reported that Iran was attempting to influence the 2024 presidential election and that a group affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard had "broken into the email account of a former senior adviser to a presidential campaign".[6][7] On August 10, Politico reported that beginning on July 22, it began receiving emails from an AOL Mail account identified as "Robert" with internal communications from the Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign, including information on JD Vance, Trump's vice presidential nominee, and Marco Rubio, a contender. The account did not state how it obtained the documents.[8] The Trump campaign confirmed it had been hacked following Politico's report. Trump advisor Steven Cheung noted Microsoft's report that accused the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of hacking into the campaign.[9] On August 12 the Harris campaign also claimed to have been victims of a failed spear phishing attack by Iran.[10] On August 14, 2024, Google's Threat Analysis Group reported that Iran had attempted to hack the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns in May and June.[6] According to Google, IRGC-linked group APT42 targeted approximately twelve people associated with the Trump and Biden campaigns.[11] On August 16, OpenAI stated that it had prevented an Iranian misinformation campaign that included falsehoods about the 2024 election.[12]
Reactions
[edit]Chris Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, wrote on X, "Someone is running the 2016 playbook."[13]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Harris, Shane; Nakashima, Ellen; Dawsey, Josh (August 13, 2024). "Suspected Iranian hacks are latest round of U.S. election interference". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ^ Barrett, Devlin; Dawsey, Josh; Pager, Tyler; Arnsdorf, Isaac; Harris, Shane (August 12, 2024). "FBI probing alleged Iran hack attempts targeting Trump, Biden camps". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on August 17, 2024. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ^ Goldman, Adam; Haberman, Maggie; Thrush, Glenn (August 12, 2024). "F.B.I. Investigating Hacking That Trump Campaign Attributes to Iran". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024.
- ^ Stein, Perry (August 19, 2024). "FBI says it's confident Iran tried to hack Trump presidential campaign". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ Watts, Clint (August 8, 2024). "Iran Targeting 2024 US Election". Microsoft. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved August 16, 2024.}
- ^ a b Collier, Kevin (August 14, 2024). "Google says it observed Iran trying to hack the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ^ Kim, Juliana (August 9, 2024). "Microsoft detects fake news sites linked to Iran aimed at meddling in U.S. election". NPR. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
- ^ Isenstadt, Alex (August 10, 2024). "We received internal Trump documents from 'Robert.' Then the campaign confirmed it was hacked". Politico. Archived from the original on August 11, 2024. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
- ^ "Trump campaign says it has been hacked". CBS News. August 12, 2024. Archived from the original on August 12, 2024. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
- ^ Morrison, Dan (August 12, 2024). "FBI probes Trump hack, Harris team says it was also targeted in failed attempt". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024.
- ^ Greenberg, Andy (August 14, 2024). "A Single Iranian Hacker Group Targeted Both Presidential Campaigns, Google Says". Wired. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
- ^ Metz, Cade (August 16, 2024). "OpenAI Says It Disrupted an Iranian Misinformation Campaign". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 17, 2024.
- ^ Volz, Dustin; Salama, Vivian (August 10, 2024). "Trump Campaign Says It Was Hacked". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 11, 2024. Retrieved August 12, 2024.