U.S. authorities have confirmed that Iranian hackers attempted to influence the upcoming presidential election by offering confidential material from Donald Trump’s campaign to Joe Biden’s team.
According to a joint statement released on Wednesday by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, the hackers sent unsolicited emails to Biden’s campaign members containing “stolen, non-public” data from Trump’s presidential campaign.
At the time of the cyberattack, Joe Biden was the Democratic presidential nominee. However, he stepped down in July, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic ticket.
The emails were not responded to by any of Biden’s campaign staff, as confirmed by the statement from the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
The hacking incident, first linked to Iran in August, adds to the growing concerns about foreign interference in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The U.S. agencies have pointed out that Russia, Iran, and China are among the foreign actors attempting to interfere in the election by exploiting divisions within U.S. society. However, Iran has firmly denied these allegations.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Iranian mission to the United Nations dismissed the accusations, describing them as “devoid of any credibility and legitimacy.” The statement further read, “Iran neither has any motive nor intent to interfere in the U.S. election; and, it therefore categorically repudiates such accusations.”
The stolen Trump campaign data was not only offered to the Biden team but was also allegedly shared with U.S. media outlets, although the names of these media organizations were not disclosed.
Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’s campaigns have acknowledged recent cyberattacks targeting their operations. Trump’s team has responded to the claims by stating that the Iranian hack is evidence of foreign interference to benefit the Harris-Biden campaign. Trump’s campaign press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said, “This is because they know President Trump will restore his tough sanctions and stand against their reign of terror.”
This revelation comes as the United States prepares for the November 5, 2024, election, with cybersecurity concerns growing amid the already tense political atmosphere. U.S.-based tech companies have also reported detecting an increasing number of cyberattacks as the election date approaches, underscoring the critical need for securing electoral integrity.
In the past, foreign meddling in U.S. elections has had significant repercussions. During the 2016 election, Russian hackers breached the Democratic National Committee’s emails, exposing internal communications that harmed the party’s candidate, Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump, who won that election, faced criticism for publicly encouraging the hack.
