U.S. charges Iranian hackers for attack on Trump campaign

The U.S. Justice Department on Friday charged three Iranian operatives with hacking former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in what the agency said was an attempt to interfere with the election in November.

The three men, all Iranian nationals residing in Iran, were charged with material support for terrorism, computer fraud, wire fraud, and identity theft for their roles in cyberattacks, according to the indictment.

The defendants allegedly targeted the email accounts of current and former U.S. public officials, journalists, and individuals associated with U.S. political campaigns. According to the indictment, the men used fake email accounts to trick campaign officials to click on links that allowed the hackers to steal internal information.

“The defendants’ own words make clear that they were attempting to undermine former President Trump’s campaign in advance of the 2024 U.S. presidential election,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference. “We know that Iran is continuing its brazen efforts to stoke discord, erode confidence in the U.S. electoral process, and advance its malign activities through the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], a designated foreign terrorist organization.”

Trump’s campaign revealed in August that it had been hacked by Iran. At the time, the campaign said hackers weren’t able to get any private information. However, several news outlets reportedly received documents that were allegedly stolen from the campaign.

Friday’s indictment was paired with sanctions by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, while the State Department offered hefty rewards for information leading to the arrests of the defendants.

Iran has denied past allegations of election interference.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91199406/u-s-charges-iranian-hackers-for-attack-on-trump-campaign?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss

Created 9mo | Sep 27, 2024, 9:30:05 PM


Login to add comment

Other posts in this group

U.K.’s Bytes Technology stock plunged over 27%. Here’s why

Shares of U.K.’s Bytes Technology plunged over 27% on Wednesday after the IT firm said its operating profit for the first half of fiscal 2026 would be marginally lower due to delayed custome

Jul 2, 2025, 5:50:03 PM | Fast company - tech
Elon Musk is right: Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill could hurt clean energy

Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill Act has passed through the Senate thanks to

Jul 2, 2025, 3:30:04 PM | Fast company - tech
These geeks are building an early warning system for disappearing government data

To a certain brand of policy wonk, January 31, 2025, is a day that will live in infamy. 

It had been nearly two weeks since President Donald Trump took office for the second time—days th

Jul 2, 2025, 1:20:06 PM | Fast company - tech
‘Creatives are going to be elevated’: Canva’s COO on how AI is transforming the artistic landscape

For over a decade, Canva has made design and publishing accessible to anyone. Now the company is wrestling with how to harness

Jul 2, 2025, 1:20:04 PM | Fast company - tech
I quit TikTok—and got my attention span back

For a few days, my finger would hover over the TikTok hole on my home screen. But

Jul 2, 2025, 10:50:08 AM | Fast company - tech