Recent cyber-attacks on the Presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have been confirmed to be orchestrated by Iranian actors, including APT42 [2] [4]. These attacks are part of a larger effort by Iran to undermine confidence in US democratic institutions and influence US foreign policy.
Description
US intelligence agencies [1] [3] [7], including the FBI [12], Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency [3] [6] [7] [12], and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence [3] [6] [7] [12], have observed aggressive Iranian activity targeting influence operations and cyber operations during the election cycle [6]. Iranian threat actors have been using spearphishing attacks and social engineering to target individuals associated with US Presidential campaigns. Additionally, Iranian influence operations [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [12], such as Storm-2035 [2], have been identified targeting the US Presidential election cycle [2]. The US government, along with agencies like the ODNI [2], FBI [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12], and CISA [2] [5], are working to protect the integrity of elections from foreign influence or interference by sharing information [2], bolstering security [1] [2], and disrupting threats [2]. Basic security measures [1] [2], such as using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication [2], are emphasized to improve online security and safety for the 2024 US elections [2]. Ransomware attacks targeting state or local government networks could cause temporary delays but would not affect the integrity of voting systems [2]. Iran’s UN mission has denied interfering in the election [6], and news outlets received documents that appeared to be stolen from the Trump campaign as part of an Iranian hack-and-leak operation [6]. Google published a report on an Iranian hacker group targeting both the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns [6]. The US previously blamed Iran for a large election influence operation involving harassing emails to Democrats in Florida [6]. Intelligence officials have confirmed successful compromise of Donald Trump’s campaign [5], with the FBI actively investigating and tracking this activity to protect the integrity of the US election process from foreign interference [5]. Iranian government used social engineering to access individuals with direct access to presidential campaigns [8] [12]. Iran caught US officials off-guard with aggressive meddling in 2020 election [8]. Suspected Iranian hackers breached Roger Stone’s email account to access Trump campaign networks [8]. AOL account leaked internal Trump campaign documents [8]. Hackers targeted email accounts of current US officials [8], Kamala Harris [2] [4] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12], and Joe Biden [8]. FBI attributes hack to IRGC-affiliated group [8]. Investigators link leaked documents to same Iranian hacking group [8]. Iranian hackers pressured reporter to publish more documents [8]. FBI briefed Trump on Iran’s responsibility for hacking effort [8]. Google has also reported that hackers backed by Iran targeted both Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns [7]. A hacker group known as APT42 [7], linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [7], targeted high-profile individuals and organizations in Israel and the US [7], including government officials and political campaigns [7]. Iran’s actions are seen as retaliation for a 2020 strike on an Iranian general ordered by Trump [11]. Iran’s cyber activity is escalating [9], with a focus on influencing the US election [9].
Conclusion
The cyber-attacks by Iranian actors on US Presidential campaigns highlight the ongoing threat of foreign interference in democratic processes. Efforts to protect the integrity of elections through information sharing, security measures [1], and disruption of threats are crucial. The escalation of Iran’s cyber activity underscores the need for continued vigilance and preparedness to safeguard against future attacks.
References
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/08/19/iran-hack-trump-biden-harris-fbi/
[2] https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/iran-trump-campaign-hack-us/
[3] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/19/fbi-concludes-iran-hacking-attempt-trump/74866004007/
[4] https://time.com/7012372/us-intelligence-fbi-iran-election-interference-harris-trump-campaign-hack/
[5] https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/20/24224356/election-hackers-trump-campaign-iran
[6] https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/us-confirms-trump-campaign-claim-was-breached-iranian-hackers-rcna167285
[7] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/20/us-says-iran-behind-cyber-attacks-on-harris-trump-election-campaigns
[8] https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/19/politics/us-concludes-iran-behind-trump-biden-harris-hacking/index.html
[9] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-intelligence-officials-say-iran-was-behind-trump-presidential-campaign-hack
[10] https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/us-intelligence-officials-iran-blame-hack-trumps-presidential-112960952
[11] https://apnews.com/article/iran-fbi-trump-intelligence-community-52641cd66412d7c01d73876acab3d989
[12] https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iran-hack-iran-trump-harris-1.7299058
