US concludes Iran is behind hacking attempts targeting Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns

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The US government has concluded the Iranian government is behind the hack and leak operation targeting Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and also attempted to target the Biden-Harris campaign, the FBI and other US intelligence agencies said Monday. The FBI in recent days briefed the former president on their preliminary findings, after news organizations reported receiving documents believed to have come from an account belonging to a senior Trump campaign official. Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has said the hackers were unsuccessful in their attempts against the Biden-Harris campaign. The investigation marks the clearest sign of the efforts by Iran, and other countries, to try to influence the 2024 election, US officials believe. “The IC is confident that the Iranians have through social engineering and other efforts sought access to individuals with direct access to the Presidential campaigns of both political parties. Such activity, including thefts and disclosures, are intended to influence the U.S. election process,” the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in a statement Monday. “It is important to note that this approach is not new. Iran and Russia have employed these tactics not only in the United States during this and prior federal election cycles but also in other countries around the world,” the statement added. Iran caught some US officials off-guard with how aggressive it was in trying to meddle in the 2020 election, including by threatening election officials. Four years later, the element of surprise may be gone, but Iran appears no less willing to try to cause chaos during the election, according to current and former US officials.