Iran to Blame for Hack on Trump Campaign, Say US Intelligence Officials
Department of Research, Strategic Studies and International Relations 21-08-2024
US intelligence officials have identified Iran as being responsible for a hack targeting Donald Trump’s president ial campaign, as announced by authorities on Monday.
A joint statement from the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency attributed the recent compromise of the former president’s campaign to Iranianactors. The intelligence community expressed confidence that Iran hadused social engineering and othertactics to gain access to individual sconnected to the campaigns of both major US political parties.
The state men thighlighted that Iran’s actions, which includethefts and disclosures, are aimed at influencing the US election process.
This announce men tfollows reports from media outletssuch as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Politico, which indicated that internal campaign documents, including a dossier on Ohio senator JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, had been obtained.
Trump previously accused the Iran ian government of the hack and claimed that only publicl yavailable information was compromised, based on information from Microsoft.
Additionally, last week, Kamala Harris’s campaign revealed that the FBI hadwarned of a foreign hacking attempt, which their cyber security measures successfully thwarted.
The broader campaign to influence the US election, according to the intelligence officials, reflectsIran’s perception of the election’s significance to its national security interests, leading to more aggressive actions.
The FBI continues to investigate and gather information to address the threat actors responsible, emphasizing their commitment to preventing foreign interference in US elections.
This incident mirrors the 2016 hack of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, whichresulted in the release of internal emails and became a major controversy.
Russian intelligence officers were laterindicted for thatbreach.
