The FBI is currently investigating allegations that sensitive documents from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign were stolen through a cyber intrusion, along with attempts to gain access to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. This comes shortly after the Trump campaign reported being hacked by Iran.
A brief statement released by the FBI regarding the Trump matter confirmed that they are actively investigating the situation.
While the Trump campaign did not provide specific evidence of Iran’s involvement, their claim followed a report by Microsoft detailing foreign agents’ interference attempts in the 2024 U.S. election. The report highlighted an instance of an Iranian military intelligence unit sending a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign using a compromised email account.
Sources familiar with the matter revealed that the Biden-Harris campaign was also targeted in the suspected Iranian cyber intrusion currently under FBI investigation. An anonymous source began sending emails to Politico, sharing a research dossier on Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, dating back to February.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung denounced the act, stating that the documents were obtained illegally with the intent to disrupt the 2024 election and cause chaos in the democratic process.
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Although phishing emails targeted three Biden-Harris campaign staffers, investigators found no evidence of a successful attempt. Intelligence officials suspect Iran’s involvement in the cyber incident that started in June.
The Biden-Harris campaign assured that they closely monitor and safeguard against cyber threats, with no reported security breaches. However, they did not address potential state-based intrusion attempts.
Iran denied involvement in the Trump campaign’s claim, but the country has been known to conduct hacking campaigns against its adversaries, including threats made against Trump following the 2020 drone strike.
Microsoft’s analysis highlighted increasing foreign influence on the 2024 U.S. election, particularly from Russian and Iranian operations. The report emphasized Iran’s cyber-enabled influence operations and their focus on election conduct rather than voter manipulation.
Microsoft concluded that both Iran and Russia could be actively engaged in influencing the 2024 election.
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