Google reports that Iranian hackers attempted to breach the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns, highlighting ongoing cyber threats to U.S. political processes.
Earlier this summer, Google alleged that Iranian hackers attempted to target the presidential campaigns of both Republicans and Democrats. The tech giant revealed that the assault formed part of a bigger email phishing initiative where bogus messages were sent with an intention to purloin personal data or infiltrate accounts.
On Wednesday, the tech company published a report in response to former US President Donald Trump’s campaign announcement that foreign entities have seized their internal emails and documents. According to the claim made by his team, Tehran was responsible for orchestrating the hack with an intention of meddling in the forthcoming presidential election; however, Iran has refused all accusations.
Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) revealed that they had foiled a phishing operation carried out by APT42, an Iranian government-affiliated threat actor and hacking organization linked with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). TAG characterized it as a “constant yet limited” effort.
As stated by Google, APT42 focuses on a regular basis on prominent individuals in the United States and Israel. These include political campaigns, current or former government officials, diplomats as well as personnel associated with think tanks and academic institutions contributing to foreign policy conversations. Additionally targeted are NGOs involved in such discussions.
In May and June, Google deterred “several” efforts made by the party to gain access to nearly twelve individuals linked with President Joe Biden, his vice president Kamala Harris, and ex-President Trump’s personal email accounts. These targeted people comprised former government officers as well as members associated with their campaigns.
According to the TAG report, APT42 has exhibited an aggressive and multi-faceted approach towards adapting their operation focus in line with Iran’s political and military agendas. In the last half-year period reviewed, it was reported that 60% of APT42’s known geographic targeting activities were targeted at Israel and the US.
Politico revealed on Saturday that they have been receiving emails for the past month from an anonymous individual called ‘Robert’ containing different documents linked to Trump’s campaign. These include a 271-page report analyzing Ohio Senator J.D Vance, who is running with Trump. Furthermore, there was also the inclusion of files focused on Marco Rubio and several court-related papers involving Donald Trump himself. Robert stated he had access to many legal records together with significant internal discussions conducted during Joe Biden versus Donald Trump campaigns in November 2020 elections .
The Trump campaign has maintained that foreign sources who are hostile to the US were responsible for stealing these documents. They have also referred to a Microsoft report which had previously cautioned about an email scheme called “spear phishing” being carried out by the IRGC.
Despite the accusation, Iran’s permanent mission to the UN has refuted it and asserted that they possess no intent or motive to meddle in US presidential elections.
