WASHINGTON (AP) — The same Iranian hacking group believed to have targeted both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns tried to track the WhatsApp accounts of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump’s administration staff, Meta Platforms said Friday.
Meta said it discovered a network of hackers posing as tech support agents for companies such as Microsoft and Google after people who received suspicious WhatsApp messages reported them. Meta investigators linked the activity to the same network blamed for the hacking incident reported by the Trump campaign.
The FBI said this week that Iran’s hacking of the Trump campaign and an attempt to breach the Biden-Harris campaign were part of a broader effort by Iran to interfere in the US presidential election.
Facebook and Instagram parent Meta said in a statement on Friday that hackers had attempted to target the WhatsApp accounts of individuals in the Middle East, the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as political and diplomatic officials — including unidentified officials. associated with the Trump and Biden administrations. Meta blocked a “small cluster” of accounts, the company said.
“We have seen no evidence that the targeted WhatsApp accounts were compromised, but out of an abundance of caution, we are sharing our findings publicly in addition to sharing information with law enforcement and our industry colleagues,” Meta said in a statement.
U.S. intelligence officials say Iran’s increasingly aggressive use of cyberattacks and disinformation has several motives: to confuse and polarize voters in an effort to undermine trust in American democracy, undermine support for Israel and oppose candidates it believes will increase tensions between Washington and Washington. Iran.
Iran has vowed revenge against Trump, whose administration ended the Iran nuclear deal, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
In July, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the Iranian government was covertly supporting American protests against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Iran-linked groups posed as online activists, encouraged campus protests and provided financial support to some protest groups, Haines said.
Messages left with the Trump and Harris campaigns were not immediately returned Friday.
