US officially accuses Iran of cyberattacks on Trump, Biden, Harris campaigns
Illustrative photo (getty images)
US intelligence officials are confident that Iran is responsible for the hacking and attempted hacking of computers belonging to the presidential campaign teams of Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, and former candidate Joe Biden, according to AP.
While Trump’s campaign investigators and private cybersecurity experts had previously attributed the hacking attacks to Iran, the US government has now officially assigned blame to the country.
In a joint statement, the FBI and other federal agencies indicated that Iran "sought access to individuals with direct access to the Presidential campaign of both political parties."
Federal officials noted that the goal of these hacking and other activities was not only to sow discord but also to influence the election results, which Iran considers "particularly consequential in terms of the impact they could have on its national security interests."
"We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle, specifically involving influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations targeting Presidential campaigns," the statement said.
It is worth noting that on August 11, Trump's campaign announced that their computers had been hacked.
A June 13 report from Google indicated that Iran, as part of an ongoing phishing attack, targeted about a dozen individuals associated with Biden, Harris, and Trump. Later, it was revealed that the FBI is investigating the hacking of the US presidential candidates' campaign teams
