Iranian hackers tried to use stolen Trump campaign info to get Biden staffers’ attention, FBI says

Iranian hackers made an attempt to influence the 2024 election by targeting individuals associated with President Biden’s campaign. The hackers sent unsolicited emails containing stolen information from former President Trump’s campaign, with the goal of interfering in the election process. Fortunately, there is no evidence that anyone responded to these emails, preventing the hacked information from being used to manipulate the election outcome.

In late July, federal agencies revealed that Iran had initiated a campaign to weaken Trump’s candidacy, while Russia was working to support it. The FBI was investigating possible targeting of individuals connected to both the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns by Iranian hackers. Harris campaign spokesperson Morgan Finkelstein confirmed that while some individuals associated with the Biden campaign were targeted with phishing attempts, no material was directly sent to the campaign itself.

Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt accused Iran of interfering in the election process to help Biden and Harris due to Trump’s tough stance against them. A Microsoft threat intelligence report also pointed towards Iranian groups seeking to influence the election. Former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director, Chris Krebs, highlighted the multi-pronged efforts of Iran to damage the Trump campaign.

The Trump campaign disclosed that it was hacked, with Iranian actors stealing and distributing sensitive internal documents. News outlets like Politico, The New York Times, and The Washington Post were provided with leaked material from the campaign, but they have refused to disclose any details. Politico reported receiving emails with research dossiers on potential candidates for vice president, such as Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

Iran’s permanent mission to the U.N. denied the allegations made by the FBI, stating that Iran has no motive or intent to interfere in the U.S. election. They called for the U.S. government to provide evidence to support their claims. The situation underscores the importance of cybersecurity and vigilance in safeguarding democratic processes against foreign interference.