The Trump campaign claims it was hacked by Iran — though it’s unclear what information, if any, the alleged hackers actually obtained. The FBI is It is said that the matter is being looked into.
Here’s what we know for sure: Microsoft said in a report published last Friday Claims it used “compromised email accounts” for a group linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to gain access to the systems of “high-ranking presidential campaign officials”. The agency did not name the presidential campaign and did not elaborate on whether the effort was successful.
Saturday, Politico A report revealed that the detailed document was obtained from a mysterious AOL email address from someone named Robert. The materials appear to be from the Trump campaign, and include a draft of scrutinized profiles of potential vice-presidential pick Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and the campaign’s actual pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. Sunday, the New York Times Dr It appeared to be the same document from a person claiming to be a Politico source.
Shortly after Politico published its piece Saturday, the Trump campaign Politico issued a statement claimed to have stolen documents from “foreign sources hostile to the United States”; The statement indicated that Iran was behind Politico’s outreach. Former President Donald Trump then clarified the suggestion on Saturday night The truth is social“We were just informed by Microsoft Corporation that one of our many websites has been hacked by the Iranian government – never a good thing!”
On Monday, the FBI announced it was investigating Trump’s claims.
Much uncertainty remains surrounding the supposed hack and foreign efforts to interfere in the 2024 election. But here are some more important things to know.
What do we know about Iranian hackers and the Trump campaign?
While Trump’s campaign has clearly stated that it was the target of Iran’s attack, Microsoft has yet to be so blunt.
According to a Microsoft report, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been conducting a massive hacking campaign involving at least four groups – Cotton Sandstorm, Lemon Sandstorm, Mint Sandstorm and Peach Sandstorm – over the past few election cycles. Microsoft says its Microsoft Threat Analysis CenterA department tasked with protecting both the company and its user base from cybercrime, noted that someone “sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official in the presidential campaign from the compromised email account of a former senior adviser.”
Spear phishing is when a hacker or hacking group attempts to gain access to a specific person or organization’s digital space by placing a malicious link in a message, which, when clicked by the recipient, can install malware on a machine that allows hackers to access the information. According to Microsoft Blog post that it “notified the target” of the spear phishing attempt.
While the MTAC report is unclear about the success of Mint Sandstorm’s spear phishing efforts, it does outline other ways the IRGC appears to be planning to influence the election, including setting up fake news sites that contain polarizing content about Israel-Hamas. conflict and LGBTQ rights, as well as the presidential candidates themselves.
If Iran was behind the phishing attempt, and if the country shared the documents with US journalists, it could suggest an effort to alienate voters from Trump. The former president has touted his Iran policy as better and tougher than Democrats.
His first administration exercised “maximum pressure” on the Islamic Republic. And he ordered the assassination of IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani in January 2020, a practical and ideological blow to Iran. Soleimani was a respected figure in the country and a central force behind external groups linked to the regime, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria.
Trump also scrapped a 2015 nuclear deal that would have eased sanctions in exchange for, among other things, greater international oversight and an end to Iran’s nuclear weapons development program. This allowed Iran to accelerate its weapons development.
What does this mean for the 2024 campaign?
The documents obtained by reporters do not appear to contain any propaganda-altering bombshells.
But this whole incident is a reminder that efforts to influence online voters, like Russian efforts in the 2016 and 2020 elections, are still in play. Both Russia and China are trying to influence the current election. According to Microsoft.
Such efforts appear to include Chinese programs that use social media to raise tensions over issues such as the campus protests this spring. Most of Russia’s efforts seem to focus on sowing confusion about Ukraine and complicity with the US intelligence apparatus, as well as inflaming polarization online, particularly about immigration.
With less than three months to go before the election, it is likely that we will see more efforts from Russia and China to interfere in the US election from Iran.
