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Former President Donald Trump's campaign has said that some of their communications had been hacked.
The campaign blamed 'foreign sources hostile to the United States' and cited a Microsoft report on Friday that Iranian hackers attempted to hack a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign.
Politico reported that they had started receiving emails from an anonymous account with documents from inside Trump’s operation.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told the outlet that they didn't have further information relating to the suggestion that they were targeted by Iran.
He said: 'These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process.
Former President Donald Trump 's campaign has said that some of their communications had been hacked
'On Friday, a new report from Microsoft found that Iranian hackers broke into the account of a "high ranking official" on the U.S. presidential campaign in June 2024, which coincides with the close timing of President Trump’s selection of a vice presidential nominee.'
Cheung declined to say whether the campaign had been in contact with Microsoft or law enforcement about the breach to the outlet.
Politico reported they started receiving emails from an anonymous account who identified themselves only as Robert.
The email account relayed internal communications from a senior Trump campaign official and a research dossier on Ohio Senator JD Vance, his running mate.
Included in the documents, dated February, were publicly available information about Vance such as his past criticism of Trump, identified as 'potential vulnerabilities'.
The account told the outlet they had a 'variety of documents' from Trump's legal team and court documents to internal campaign discussions.
When asked how they obtained them, the account replied: 'I suggest you don’t be curious about where I got them from.
'Any answer to this question, will compromise me and also legally restricts you from publishing them.'
Microsoft disclosed on Thursday they found multiple Iranian groups peddling polarizing messages and inflammatory posts about controversial politically-divisive issues
It comes after reports from US intelligence that there was an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump for ordering the killing or Iranian military officer Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
Researchers for Microsoft disclosed on Thursday they found multiple Iranian groups peddling polarizing messages and inflammatory posts about controversial politically-divisive issues.
According to Microsoft's newest threat intelligence report, cybercriminals have been using covert news sites that cater to voter groups on opposing ends of the political spectrum to further alienate both sides.
Evidence discovered by the company suggests that these sites have been using AI-enabled services to plagiarize some of their content from US publications.
Microsoft did not name the publications in its report. Notably, the report did not suggest that any attacks had been made on Vice President Kamala Harris.
Apart from this, the report also noted that an Iranian group connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had previously attempted to break into email account of campaign officials.
Included in the documents, dated February, were publicly available information about Vance such as his past criticism of Trump, identified as 'potential vulnerabilities'
The Microsoft report did not suggest that any attacks had been made on Vice President Kamala Harris
Evidence discovered by the company suggests that these sites have been using AI-enabled services to plagiarize some of their content from US publications.
Microsoft did not name the publications in its report. Notably, the report did not suggest that any attacks had been made on Vice President Kamala Harris.
Apart from this, the report also noted that an Iranian group connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had previously attempted to break into email account of campaign officials.
The findings are the latest evidence that foreign governments are conducting clandestine operations ahead of US elections in November.
Back in 2020, two Iranian men had impersonated members of the right-wing Proud Boys group as part of a voter intimidation effort, according to the FBI. They were later charged for their involvement.
In the same election year, Iranian hackers had breached a website used by a municipal government in the US to publish election results.
The attackers were caught before carrying out any nefarious activity, US cybersecurity officials later clarified.
In his statement Saturday, Cheung pointed to those reports, saying: 'The Iranians know that President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House.'
English (US)