According to the report from Reuters, the campaign team for Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump announced on Saturday that some of their internal communications had been hacked, alleging the involvement of the Iranian government.
This accusation comes amidst a backdrop of ongoing tensions between Trump and Iran, although the campaign did not provide direct evidence linking Iran to the incident.
The statement from Trump's campaign followed a report by Politico, which disclosed that the outlet had begun receiving emails in July from an anonymous source.
These emails purportedly contained authentic documents from within Trump’s campaign, including a detailed analysis of potential vulnerabilities related to his running mate, JD Vance.
In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung described the documents as having been "illegally obtained from foreign sources hostile to the US," with the intent of disrupting the 2024 election and destabilizing the democratic process.
While Reuters has not independently verified the identity of the hackers or their motivations, the Trump campaign pointed to a recent report from Microsoft researchers as a potential link to Iran.
The report revealed that hackers, believed to be connected to the Iranian government, attempted to breach the account of a "high-ranking official" within a US presidential campaign in June.
Furthermore, the hackers reportedly compromised an account belonging to a former political advisor, using it to target the official. However, the report did not disclose the identities of those targeted.
Microsoft has remained tight-lipped on the details, with a spokesperson declining to name the targeted officials or provide further information.
Iran's foreign ministry and its representative at the United Nations did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
However, following the Microsoft report, Iran's UN mission in New York denied involvement, stating that its cyber capabilities are "defensive and proportionate to the threats it faces." The mission added that Iran has no interest in meddling in the US presidential election, calling it an internal matter.
0 Comments