The presidential campaign of the former president Donald Trump announced on Saturday that it had been hacked and that Iranian actors were implicated in the theft and dissemination of private company information.
“The campaign of Donald Trump claims that Iran hacked its emails.”
Iran’s involvement in the campaign was not specifically demonstrated, but the allegation was made the day after Microsoft released a report describing attempts by foreign agents to sabotage the American campaign in 2024.In June, “a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor” was sent by an Iranian military intelligence unit, according to the report.Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, attributed the hack to “foreign sources hostile to the United States.” In a statement, a representative for the National Security Council stated that while it condemns any government or organisation that seeks to erode trust in American democratic institutions, it takes any allegations of improper foreign interference “very seriously” and defers to the Justice Department in this case.
When questioned about the Trump campaign’s claim, Iran’s UN mission denied any involvement. The Associated Press was informed by the mission, “We do not accord any credence to such reports.” “The Iranian government has no intention of meddling in the US presidential election, nor does it harbour any motive to do so.”Iran, however, has long been suspected of conducting hacking operations aimed at its adversaries in the Middle East and elsewhere. For a long time, Tehran has also threatened to avenge Trump for the 2020 drone strike that killed notable Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
This past week, the U.S. Justice Department revealed criminal charges against a Pakistani national with Iranian ties who was allegedly plotting assassination attempts against American politicians, possibly including Trump, and who also allegedly tried to hire so-called hitmen who were really undercover law enforcement officers. Court records in that particular case made clear that Iran intended to carry out operations against people who were seen as the regime’s adversaries in order to exact revenge on Soleimani’s murder.
Politico broke the story of the hack on Saturday. The outlet claimed that on July 22, it started getting emails from an unidentified account. The source, an AOL email address only known as “Robert,” shared what looked to be a dossier the campaign had apparently completed on Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president. The date on the document was February 23, which was nearly five months before Trump announced Vance as his running mate.According to Cheung, “these documents were obtained illegally” and “intended to sow chaos throughout our Democratic process and interfere with the 2024 election.”
He cited the findings of a Microsoft report released on Friday, which stated that “in June 2024, coincidentally with President Trump’s selection of a vice presidential nominee, Iranian hackers broke into the account of a ‘high ranking official’ on the U.S. presidential campaign.””Any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America’s enemies and doing exactly what they want,” Cheung warned, adding, “The Iranians know that President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House.”
When questioned about the campaign’s communications with Microsoft regarding the issue, Cheung did not answer right away. Beyond its blog post and Friday report, Microsoft stated on Saturday that it had nothing further to say.”Foreign malign influence concerning the 2024 US election started off slowly but has steadily picked up pace over the last six months due to initially Russian operations, but more recently Iranian activity,” Microsoft said in that report.The analysis went on to say that at least the last three U.S. election cycles have consistently featured Iranian cyber-enabled influence operations. Being active later in the election season and using cyberattacks more focused on election behaviour than voter manipulation, Iran’s operations stand out from Russian campaigns.
Microsoft concluded, “Recent activity suggests the Iranian regime — along with the Kremlin — may be equally engaged in the election of 2024.”
The report specifically stated that in June 2024, a phishing email was sent by the Iranian military intelligence unit, Mint Sandstorm, to an American presidential campaign through the account of a former adviser that had been compromised.
The report notes that the phishing email included a bogus forward with a hyperlink that reroutes traffic via an actor-controlled domain and then to the specified domain.
A request for information regarding the Democratic nominee’s cybersecurity procedures or the alleged hacking was not immediately answered by Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Source: AP
