Iranian hackers looking to undermine confidence in next month’s U.S. elections are prowling for victims, putting a premium on anyone working for American political campaigns, according to a new warning from U.S. officials.
The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the government body responsible for overseeing election security, on Tuesday urged politicians and their teams to strengthen their cybersecurity posture to combat the threat from Iran.
They also encouraged former U.S. government officials, academics, journalists and activists to take necessary precautions, noting the Iranian-linked hackers are operating at the behest of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“IRGC cyber actors pose an ongoing and escalating risk,” CISA Director Jen Easterly said in a statement released Tuesday. “We urge individuals and organizations associated with national political organizations or campaigns to review and implement [security] actions.”
The guidance from the FBI and CISA warns that Iranian hackers have been targeting both personal and business email accounts, often impersonating professional contacts, to steal login credentials and passwords.
U.S. officials have previously said Iranian operatives used similar techniques in a hack-and-leak operation aimed at undermining the campaign of former president and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Late last month, U.S. prosecutors charged three Iranians — Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri and Yaser Balaghi — with using the same tactics in a wide-ranging campaign that compromised the email accounts a former State Department official, a former presidential Homeland Security adviser and at least two former CIA officials.
Iranian officials have previously and repeatedly rejected U.S. accusations of election meddling. The Iranian Mission to the United Nations has not yet responded to VOA’s request for comment on the latest allegations.
On Monday, U.S. intelligence officials warned that U.S. adversaries, including Iran, have been ramping up their cyber operations as the November 5 U.S. election draws ever closer.
Officials said the increase will build on what has already been an unprecedented pace of attacks spearheaded by Iran, Russia and China that has spurred a threefold increase in the number of security briefings given to U.S. political campaigns.
U.S. intelligence officials have said Iran’s focus is on helping the U.S. presidential campaign of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, mostly by trying to hurt Trump’s reelection bid.
Previous intelligence assessments have also accused Tehran of using artificial intelligence to create social media posts and fake news articles to enrage voters and stoke divisions ahead of the U.S. election.
In July, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines warned that actors linked to Iran also sought to infiltrate U.S. groups protesting Israeli actions in Gaza.
“We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters,” Haines said at the time.
