US claims Iran behind Trump campaign hack amid broad interference attempts

US intelligence officials have confirmed that Iran was responsible for a cyberattack on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, according to a statement released on Monday (Aug19).

In a joint announcement, the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) attributed the "recently reported activities to compromise former President Trump’s campaign" to Iran. The US intelligence said that Iranian actors, through social engineering and other tactics, sought access to individuals with direct links to the presidential campaigns of both major political parties.

"Iran’s efforts include 'thefts and disclosures' intended to influence the US election process," the statement noted.

The confirmation follows reports last week in the US media claiming that they had received internal campaign records. These records included a dossier on Ohio Senator JD Vance, Trump's running mate.

Trump immediately accused the Iranian government of being behind the attack. He said that Microsoft had informed his campaign about the breach. He also claimed that only "publicly available information" had been compromised.

In a related incident, Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign said that the FBI had warned of a foreign hacking attempt targeting her campaign. According to campaign officials, their cybersecurity measures successfully thwarted the attack.

The hacking efforts are part of a broader campaign by Iran to impact the US election, the intelligence agencies' statement said.

"Iran perceives this year’s elections to be particularly consequential in terms of the impact they could have on its national security interests, increasing Tehran’s inclination to try to shape the outcome. We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle, specifically involving influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations targeting presidential campaigns."

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The FBI has been in contact with the victims of the hacking and assured that it will continue to investigate and work to disrupt those responsible for the attack.

"We will not tolerate foreign efforts to influence or interfere with our elections, including the targeting of American political campaigns," the statement added.

(With inputs from agencies)