FBI, ODNI, CISA Report Iranian Cyber Actors' Interference in U.S. Presidential Race
Hackers from Iran sent emails in late June and early July to individuals then associated with President Joe Biden’s campaign that contained private information stolen from former president Donald Trump’s campaign in an attempt to influence the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
In a joint statement released Wednesday, the three government agencies shared the latest example of Iran tampering with U.S. elections.
According to the release, Iranian cyber actors have been trying to send stolen material from Trump’s presidential campaign to U.S. media organizations since June. Currently, there is no evidence that suggests the recipients of the unsolicited emails replied.
The FBI, ODNI and CISA previously commented in August on Iran’s suspected malicious cyber activity and in particular interest in amplifying societal tensions surrounding U.S. elections.
“The IC [intelligence community] is confident that the Iranians have, through social engineering and other efforts, sought access to individuals with direct access to the presidential campaigns of both political parties,” the August 19 release stated. “Such activity, including thefts and disclosures, are intended to influence the U.S. election process.”
The intelligence community predicted that Iran would deem the upcoming election impactful on its own national security interests and therefore attempt to exacerbate tensions surrounding the U.S. presidential election. However, the intelligence community also stated these tactics are not new; they have been used by Russia and Iran in prior federal elections within the United States and other countries.
In August, the three government agencies urged the public to pay more attention to cybersecurity, specifically “using strong passwords and only official email accounts for official business, updating software, avoiding clicking on links or opening attachments from suspicious emails before confirming their authenticity with the sender, and turning on multifactor authentication.”
Now, the FBI, ODNI and CISA are warning that Russia, Iran and China are expected to increase activities aimed at swaying the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in November because they see elections as times of “vulnerability.”
The FBI has contacted those affected by Iran’s malicious cyber activities and will continue to investigate and disrupt those who meddle with U.S. democratic elections, as the recent cyber crime is a “direct threat to the U.S. and will not be tolerated.”
Additionally, the FBI and CISA are encouraging campaigns to report suspicious cyber activity to their local election crimes coordinators via FBI field office or directly to CISA by emailing report@cisa.dhs.gov.
