Iranian cyberattackers allegedly provided “stolen, non-public” material from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign to Joe Biden’s staff on Wednesday, according to US authorities.
The hackers, according to US intelligence and law enforcement agencies, “sent unsolicited emails that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former president Trump’s campaign to individuals then associated with President Biden’s campaign.”
In July, Biden abruptly withdrew his candidacy as the Democratic contender for president and endorsed Kamala Harris, his vice president.
No one from Biden’s campaign team responded to the emails, according to a joint statement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The same organizations initially linked the attack to Iran in August, charging Tehran with attempting to sway the 2024 election. Iran refutes the accusations.
As Election Day in November draws near, “foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities,” the US statement stated, citing China, Russia, and Iran in particular as “trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in US society for their own benefit.”
According to US agencies, Iranian cybercriminals also made an effort to provide US media outlets with the data they had taken from the Trump campaign. The outlets’ names were omitted.
The Iranian delegation to the UN sharply refuted the claims on Wednesday.
“Already devoid of any credibility and legitimacy, such allegations are fundamentally unfounded, and wholly inadmissible,” it stated in a statement.
“Iran neither has any motive nor intent to interfere in the U.S. election; and, it therefore categorically repudiates such accusations.”
The Trump and Harris campaigns both claim they have been the victim of cyberattacks in the last few weeks as the US goes to the polls on November 5.
US-based IT firms have also reported seeing these kinds of attacks.The conspiracy, according to Trump’s team on Wednesday, is “proof the Iranians are actively interfering in the election to help Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.” Beijing is the source of the plot.
Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary for the Trump campaign, stated that this was “because they know President Trump will restore his tough sanctions and stand against their reign of terror.”
A 2016 DNC email attack, which was attributed to Russian interference, revealed party internal correspondence, including information regarding presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
It was said that Trump, who would go on to win that election, encouraged the hacker.
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.
