Microsoft: Hackers Linked to the Islamic Republic Targeted American Officials Ahead of Elections

Researchers at Microsoft stated on Friday, August 9, that hackers linked to the Islamic Republic attempted to infiltrate the account of a "high-ranking official" in one of the presidential election campaigns in the United States. According to the report, this operation took place in June of this year. A few weeks prior, the same hackers had infiltrated the account of an American official at the county level. Microsoft researchers noted in their report, without providing further details about the identities of these American officials, that this operation is part of the increasing efforts by hackers linked to the Islamic Republic to influence the upcoming U.S. presidential elections in November. The Microsoft report was released following recent statements by senior U.S. intelligence officials regarding the increased use of fake accounts by the Islamic Republic on social media to incite political discord in the U.S. Reuters reported that the Iranian delegation to the United Nations in New York claimed in a statement to the news agency that Iran's cyber capabilities are "defensive and proportional to the threats it faces" and that it has no plans to conduct cyber attacks. In response to Microsoft's report, the Iranian delegation also claimed, "The U.S. presidential elections are an internal matter in which Iran does not interfere." Microsoft researchers stated that a group managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' intelligence unit attempted to infiltrate the account of a high-ranking official in a U.S. presidential campaign by sending a "phishing email." Another hacking group linked to the IRGC also infiltrated the account of an American official who held a position in one of the counties in the U.S. However, they did not succeed in accessing the systems and accounts of other officials. The report also mentions that another Iranian group was launching fake news websites that used artificial intelligence to extract content from legitimate news sites and targeted American voters across the political spectrum. Sources: Reuters, Microsoft. The U.S. offers up to $10 million for information about three sanctioned Iranian hackers. The U.S. Attorney's Office has indicted the "$10 million" Iranian hacker. The Israeli National Cyber Directorate warns: Beware of "update" emails from Islamic Republic hackers. A security company reported that a "cyber gang" supported by the Islamic Republic hacked dozens of major Israeli companies. The White House stated that the recent hacking operations by the Islamic Republic in the U.S. are a new warning to strengthen cybersecurity. Microsoft warns about attacks from Iranian hacker groups on the servers of a software.