Google a research report On Wednesday, it revealed efforts by Iranian hackers to target both the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns in May and June, part of a larger email phishing operation that is still ongoing.
Google’s announcement on Saturday adds credence to Trump’s claim that it was hacked as part of his campaign. Iran campaign interfering with the election.
Google’s Threat Analysis Group, which monitors government-sponsored cyberattacks, said in a report that it had stopped a “small but persistent” phishing operation from a hacking unit linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Google said in its report that in May and June, “targets included the private email accounts of approximately a dozen individuals associated with President Biden and former President Trump, including current and former US government officials and individuals associated with the respective campaigns.” The company blocked “numerous” attempts to access the targets’ private email addresses, it said.
Google said the hacking operation reached the Gmail account of at least one high-profile political consultant in July. The company said it continues to ensure the account’s security and has referred the matter to law enforcement. The company did not disclose the identity of the consultant or whether the consultant was involved in both campaigns.
Like many elite government-affiliated hacking groups, IRGC hackers are known for their stubbornness. Google said it “continues to monitor” failed attempts to hack accounts linked to Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump.
The hacking attempts, which were part of a broader campaign to hack US and Israeli targets, used Google products such as Sites, Drive and Gmail, Google said.
Reports of a credible hacker threat to US presidential campaigns began last week, then Microsoft said Hackers affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard Corps hacked the email account of a former senior adviser to the presidential election campaign. Microsoft did not provide details on who was hacked.
A spokesman for Iran’s UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iranian state news previously reported that the representative of the mission denied that Iran was involved in hacking the Trump campaign.
Over the weekend, three US news outlets – Politico, The Washington Post and The New York Times – said they had received emails that appeared to be Trump campaign files in what appeared to be a “hack and leak” operation to embarrass Trump. . The The FBI said Monday it was investigating attempts to hack both the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns, but did not provide further details.
Only He claimed that Trump’s campaign was hacked. This spring, the first round of phishing emails happened before Biden dropped out and Harris became the Democratic nominee. A Harris official told NBC News that the campaign was unaware of any security breach.
No major cybersecurity company or government agency has yet said publicly that Iran successfully hacked the Trump campaign. Microsoft declined to comment further on its report. A Microsoft spokesperson told NBC News that its policy is not to publicly disclose details about a hacker’s victim unless specifically requested.
The series of events follows a U.S. intelligence official at the Center for Foreign Malicious Influence, one of several branches of the U.S. government dedicated to countering foreign propaganda campaigns. He warned that there is a possibility of Iran Continuing efforts to smear Trump.