Thu Sep 19 07:27:33 UTC 2024: ## Iran Allegedly Targeted Both Trump and Biden Campaigns in Election Interference Efforts
**Washington, D.C.** – U.S. intelligence officials have revealed that Iran went beyond a standard hack-and-leak operation in its bid to influence the 2024 presidential election, targeting both former President Donald Trump’s and incumbent President Joe Biden’s campaigns.
According to the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Iranian cyber actors attempted to leak stolen documents from Trump’s campaign to media organizations and also sent emails containing stolen material to individuals associated with Biden’s campaign. While no evidence suggests those individuals responded, the stolen information was subsequently peddled to U.S. media outlets.
The Trump campaign initially attributed the hack to “foreign sources hostile to the United States” in August, while U.S. intelligence officials identified Iran as the culprit a week later.
The Biden campaign confirmed that a few individuals were targeted with emails that appeared as spam or phishing attempts, and strongly condemned Iran’s “unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity.”
Beyond the hack-and-leak tactics, intelligence officials warn that Iran is employing a multipronged approach to influence the election, including covert social media operations using fake personas, and employing artificial intelligence to publish inauthentic news articles.
Private technology companies have also issued warnings about Iranian activities. Microsoft President Brad Smith revealed that Tehran-linked actors started their efforts as early as May, targeting network accounts in a “classic prelude to hack-and-leak operations.”
While Iran has denied any involvement in interfering with U.S. elections, this revelation underscores the ongoing threat of foreign interference in American elections. U.S. authorities are investigating the matter and pursuing those responsible for these activities.
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