Google has confirmed that Iranian-backed hackers targeted the campaigns of US presidential rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
A hacking group known as “APT42,” linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has attacked high-profile individuals and organizations in Israel and the United States, including government officials and political campaigns, according to a threat report released Tuesday by Google.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign said Tuesday it had been targeted by foreign hackers, days after rival Donald Trump’s campaign suggested it had been hacked by Iran.
“In July, the FBI notified the campaign’s legal and security teams that we were the target of a foreign actor influence operation. We have robust cyber security measures in place and are not aware of any intrusion as a result of those efforts,” a Harris campaign official told AFP.
Google’s threat analysis unit continues to see unsuccessful attempts by APT42 to compromise the personal accounts of individuals associated with President Joe Biden, Vice President Harris and Trump, the report said.
The hacking group works by gathering information about targets and tailoring phishing attempts to trick victims into revealing login details for accounts like Gmail.
Examples cited in the report include impersonating a think tank or other credible contact to lure victims to fake video meeting landing pages, where participation requires a sign-up agreement.
Google said it thwarted attempts by APT42 to hack the 2020 Biden and Trump campaigns.
In May and June of this year, the Iranian hacking group’s targets included the personal email accounts of a dozen people associated with Biden or Trump, and Google blocked numerous attempts by APT42 to log into their accounts, the report said.
Google also reported that the group hacked into the personal Gmail account of an influential political adviser.
“APT42 is a sophisticated, persistent threat actor and they show no signs of slowing down in their attempts to target users and deploy new tactics. This spring and summer, they demonstrated the ability to launch numerous simultaneous phishing campaigns, specifically targeting Israel and the United States,” Google said.
Google urged high-risk individuals connected to the upcoming election to remain vigilant and take advantage of the enhanced defenses offered by the Internet company.
The US State Department warned Iran on Monday of the consequences of meddling in the election after the Trump campaign announced it had been hacked.
The Trump campaign suggested Iran was behind the breach, which resulted in the release of private documents to reporters, including campaign research used to vet vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance.
She warned the media not to transmit those documents.
The tone was different from 2016, when Trump said at a press conference that he hoped Russia would “find” Hillary Clinton’s emails.
US intelligence has concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to support Trump, Hina writes.
