The U.S. to Indict Iranian Hackers for Cyber Intrusion into Trump Campaign

Politico and ABC News have reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is set to indict several Iranian hackers in connection with a cyber intrusion into the campaign of Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. Politico reported on Thursday, October 5, citing three anonymous sources, that a grand jury has recently charged several Iranian hackers related to the cyber intrusion into Trump's campaign. No further details about the defendants have been disclosed, and according to Politico, the indictment against these Iranian hackers was approved by the grand jury on Thursday. Additionally, ABC News reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is expected to officially announce charges against these hackers soon, possibly on Friday. The Department of Justice and Trump's campaign have not commented on this news. Trump's campaign announced on August 11 that their internal communications had been hacked and blamed the Iranian government for this cyber intrusion. Following that, the Washington Post reported that Iranian government-affiliated hackers had attempted to cyber intrude into the Biden-Harris campaign a few months prior. Microsoft and Google's cybersecurity division also reported separately on the attempts by Iranian-linked hackers to infiltrate U.S. election campaigns. In light of these developments, three U.S. intelligence agencies issued a joint statement on August 20, declaring that the Iranian government was behind the cyberattacks on election campaigns in the country, and that these actions were part of a broader intervention by the Islamic Republic to influence the elections.