On Friday, Meta announced that it had uncovered an attempt to breach the WhatsApp messaging app with ties to Iran, alerting US presidential campaigns to proceed with caution.
Following the discovery by Google and Microsoft of past similar attempts linked to Iran, the tech giant’s admission of hacking threats ahead of the November election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is the most recent.
According to Meta, WhatsApp accounts connected to an Iranian “threat actor” sent messages posing as technical support for AOL, Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft.
“This malicious activity originated in Iran and attempted to target individuals in Israel, Palestine, Iran, the United States and the UK,” Meta said in a post.
“This effort appeared to have focused on political and diplomatic officials, and other public figures, including some associated with administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.”
According to Meta, accounts engaged in what seemed to be “social engineering”— fooling individuals into granting access to networks or important information— were blocked.
According to Meta, an investigation connected the attempts to the same hacker gang that was behind earlier attacks on officials in the military, government, and other fields that were publicized by Google and Microsoft.
“Given the heightened threat environment ahead of the US election, we also shared information about this malicious activity with law enforcement and with the presidential campaigns to encourage them to stay cautious against potential adversarial targeting,” Meta said.
Accusing Tehran of attempting to sway the 2024 election, three US intelligence and security agencies stated on Monday that Iran was responsible for a recent breach that targeted Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Following the disclosure to a US media source of internal correspondence and a dossier on running mate J.D. Vance, the statement verified an allegation made by the Trump campaign earlier this month.
On August 13, Harris’s campaign announced that it, too, had been the target of foreign hackers; however, it did not specify which nation was thought to be responsible for the assault.
Last Monday, OpenAI announced that it has eliminated several ChatGPT accounts that were being used to produce material for a “covert Iranian influence operation.”
According to OpenAI, the operation used ChatGPT to generate articles and brief remarks, which were subsequently posted on websites and social media platforms.
The US presidential election, Israel’s participation in the Olympics, and the Gaza situation were the main subjects of conversation.
“They interspersed their political content with comments about fashion and beauty, possibly to appear more authentic or in an attempt to build a following,” OpenAI said.
Clint Watts, general manager of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, stated that organizations associated with the Iranian government have “laid the groundwork for influence campaigns on trending election-related topics and begun to activate these campaigns in an apparent effort to stir up controversy or sway voters – especially in swing states.”
Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, issued a warning earlier this year about Iran’s “increasingly aggressive” influence operations, claiming that the country was attempting to sow division and weaken democratic institutions, as it had in previous election cycles.
