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The Justice Department has charged three Iranians for their involvement in a widespread hacking campaign aimed at influencing the US presidential election.
What’s the deal: In a release, The Justice Department said that three Iranians who are members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), orchestrated a sophisticated hacking campaign targeting former President Trump’s 2024 campaign. The operatives used “spearphishing” to gain unauthorized access to campaign officials’ accounts and steal sensitive, non-public documents to undermine Trump’s campaign. According to the DOJ, the Iranian operatives tried leaking this stolen information to media outlets and individuals associated with opposing political campaigns.
Who was charged: The Indictment released by the DOJ identified Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, and Yasar Balaghi as the hackers. According to the DOJ, the three are believed to be in Iran. In addition to targeting the Trump campaign, the group also targeted US government officials, political campaign members, and media figures by creating fraudulent email accounts and spoofed login pages.
What the DOJ is saying: In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “The Justice Department is working relentlessly to uncover and counter Iran’s cyberattacks aimed at stoking discord, undermining confidence in our democratic institutions, and influencing our elections. The American people – not Iran, or any other foreign power – will decide the outcome of our country’s elections.” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen added, “These hack-and-leak efforts by Iran are a direct assault on the integrity of our democratic processes.”
What the FBI is saying: In a statement, FBI Director Christopher Wray said, “Today’s charges represent the culmination of a thorough and long-running FBI investigation that has resulted in the indictment of three Iranian nationals for their roles in a wide-ranging hacking campaign sponsored by the Government of Iran. The conduct laid out in the indictment is just the latest example of Iran’s brazen behavior. So today the FBI would like to send a message to the Government of Iran – you and your hackers can’t hide behind your keyboards.”
Iran denies hacking: Previously, the Iranian Mission to the United Nations denied involvement in the hack of Trump’s campaign. In a statement, they said, “Such allegations are unsubstantiated and devoid of any standing. As we have previously announced, the Islamic Republic of Iran harbors neither the intention nor the motive to interfere with the USS presidential election. Should the US government genuinely believe in the validity of its claims, it should furnish us with the pertinent evidence—if any—to which we will respond accordingly.”
