Recently, U.S. intelligence officials announced that Iran is suspected of hacking former President Donald Trump’s campaign. This operation was revealed through a collaboration between the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
The agencies indicated that Iran views this year’s presidential election as crucial and has attempted to interfere by hacking and other methods. Additionally, they noted that Iranian efforts aimed to gather intelligence from the campaigns of both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, suggesting they targeted individuals with direct connections to both parties’ campaigns.
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According to the agencies, “Iran seeks to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions.” They emphasized that Iran has a history of leveraging societal tensions and cyber operations to gain access to sensitive U.S. election-related information.
The intelligence community specifically linked the recent breach of Trump’s campaign to Iranian actions, highlighting their use of social engineering tactics aimed at accessing key individuals involved in the presidential campaigns.
A Politico report earlier this month revealed that Trump’s campaign had suffered a breach involving stolen internal communications. The campaign attributed the incident to “foreign sources hostile to the United States,” implying a state-sponsored attack. However, details on the extent of the compromised data remain vague.
In response to the breach, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung stated, “These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our democratic process.” He also suggested Iranian involvement, asserting that they feared Trump’s potential return to power.
In the joint statement, intelligence agencies affirmed their commitment to safeguarding electoral integrity from foreign interference. They indicated that the FBI is actively tracking these threats, maintaining contact with affected parties, and probing into the responsible threat actors.
Finally, the agencies made it clear: “We will not tolerate foreign efforts to influence or interfere with our elections, including the targeting of American political campaigns.”