The US DOJ charges three hackers employed by Iran's Revolutionary Guard for allegedly hacking Trump's presidential campaign and disseminating stolen info

Eric Tucker / Associated Press :

Associated Press 2024-09-28 Eric Tucker

Context & Ripple Effects

This action extends a DOJ record of attributing alleged Iran-linked intrusions to named operators, including a 2020 case involving alleged theft of aerospace and satellite information and a separate indictment over large-scale data theft.

It also follows reporting that an Iran-linked group had targeted former Trump and Biden administration members since 2022. The new case brings that broader cyber-conflict pattern directly into a presidential campaign context, where stolen material can have political as well as intelligence value.

First-order effects

The DOJ has publicly tied three alleged Revolutionary Guard-employed hackers to the campaign intrusion and alleged dissemination, raising their legal and reputational exposure in the United States.
Trump's campaign must treat both the intrusion and the handling of any stolen material as an active security and communications risk.

Second-order effects

Campaigns, political consultants, and former officials are likely to tighten phishing defenses and incident-response planning as Iran-linked targeting is framed as an ongoing operational threat rather than an isolated breach.
Public attribution gives platforms, journalists, and political actors a clearer basis to scrutinize efforts to circulate material alleged to have been stolen in a foreign-backed operation.

Third-order effects

If this pattern continues, election cybersecurity will increasingly be managed as a national-security and information-integrity problem, not solely as a campaign IT issue.
Repeated indictments may make public attribution a more central U.S. response to state-linked cyber operations, even when the accused are unlikely to face a near-term U.S. trial.

The trend: State-linked cyber operations are increasingly aimed at the political ecosystem around elections, pairing network access with potential influence through stolen information.

Discussion

@fbi @fbi on x
Iranian cyber actors have targeted email accounts associated with the 2024 US presidential election. Read the #FBI's new #CybersecurityAdvisory, published in collaboration with US Government agencies and foreign partners, for more on this threat activity: https://www.ic3.gov/... …
@bing_chris Chris Bing on x
Made public a short while ago, DOJ/FBI case against the Iranian IRGC hackers that breached the Trump campaign. Among most wild findings: Iran stole debate prep material from Trump and tried to send it to Biden camp same day as the disastrous June 27 televised debate. [image]
@rc_greenway Robert Greenway on x
And neither have brought a consequential response from Biden-Harris...not even a pause in appeasement. You could conclude objectively those actions which are tolerated are condoned. Disgraceful.
@lorenzofb Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai on x
NEW: The U.S. government accused three Iranian government hackers of breaching the Trump campaign in an hack-and-leak operation. The Trump hack was part of a four years-long hacking campaign that targeted several U.S. government agencies too, per DOJ. https://techcrunch.com/...
@fbi @fbi on x
Three IRGC Cyber Actors Indicted for ‘Hack-and-Leak’ Operation Designed to Influence the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election https://www.justice.gov/... [image]
@fbi @fbi on x
Today, the DOJ unsealed an indictment charging three Iranian nationals and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) employees with a conspiracy to engage in a “hack-and-leak” operation designed to influence the 2024 US presidential election. Learn more: https://www.justice.gov/..…
@petestrzok Pete Strzok on x
https://www.documentcloud.org/ ... DOJ indictment of Iranian hackers A lot of focus on campaign victims, but don't miss the compromise of the accounts of a former CIA dep dir (Victim 8) *and* a former CIA “senior official” (Victim 6) - the latter account controlled for over a mon…
@michaelgwaltz Rep. Mike Waltz on x
Aside from trying to kill Donald Trump, this is the worst kind of election interference from Iran in American history.
@ohrick4 Rick Taylor on x
WAIT A MINUTE.... It was the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who hacked Trump ? The same Iranian Revolutionary Guard who Trump was in bed with in a money laundering operation in Azerbaijan ? Something doesn't smell right...
@tysonbrody Tyson Brody on x
some clarity here: looks like it was the personal emails of a campaign lawyer, an ‘informal advisor’, and a campaign staffer that were hacked. could explain the so far limited scope of Robert's documents. doesn't seem like they chugged down all of Suzie's work emails for instance
@dojnatsec @dojnatsec on x
Three IRGC Cyber Actors Indicted for ‘Hack-and-Leak’ Operation Designed to Influence the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election 🔗: https://www.justice.gov/... [image]
@bing_chris Chris Bing on x
As time passed, it appears the hackers became more desperate and tried to contact additional staff in the Biden campaign. [image]
@kyledcheney Kyle Cheney on x
BREAKING: The indictment charging members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with hacking the Trump campaign has been unsealed. https://www.documentcloud.org/ ... [image]
@ericgeller Eric Geller on x
The Iranians also allegedly hacked other people and groups outside of the Trump campaign world, including former government officials, journalists, authors, and think tanks, according to the indictment. https://www.justice.gov/... [image]
@jasonmbrodsky Jason Brodsky on x
Today, @USTreasury designated seven individuals as part of a coordinated U.S. government response to #Iran's operations that sought to influence or interfere in the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections. https://home.treasury.gov/...
@fbi @fbi on x
Iranian nationals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been indicted for a “hack-and-leak” operation targeting the 2024 U.S. presidential election. #FBI Director Wray condemns these efforts to sow discord in American politics, asserting that threats to democracy […
@oxleyio David Oxley on x
If you're sharing these docs or reporting on their contents, you're playing right into the intentions of Iran. A hostile foreign intelligence service like the IRGC is just that, hostile, no matter if it's targeting your opponent for the moment. 🛑
@etuckerap Eric Tucker on x
WASHINGTON (AP) Three Iranian operatives have been charged with hacking Donald Trump's presidential campaign as part of what the Justice Department says was a sweeping effort to undermine the former president and erode confidence in the US electoral system https://apnews.com/...
@vmsalama Vivian Salama on x
The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges Friday against three Iranian operatives suspected of hacking Donald Trump's presidential campaign and disseminating stolen information to media organizations. https://apnews.com/...
@alec_sears Alec Sears on x
Don't forget that the Secret Servive is currently providing protection detail to the Iranian delegation to the UN !
@jerrydunleavy Jerry Dunleavy IV on x
NEW: DOJ indicted members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for a “hack-&-leak op” vs. Trump's campaign, which was a “deliberate effort” to “undermine U.S. Presidential Campaign 1 [Trump campaign] in advance of the 2024 presidential election.” https://www.documentcloud.…
@ericgeller Eric Geller on x
DOJ has charged three Iranian government operatives with the hack-and-leak operation targeting the Trump campaign. https://www.justice.gov/... Treasury has sanctioned one of the men, as well as six men who tried to interfere in the 2020 election. https://home.treasury.gov/... [im…
@ustreasury @ustreasury on x
Today, @USTreasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control is sanctioning individuals as part of a coordinated U.S. government response to Iran's attempts to influence or interfere in U.S. elections. https://home.treasury.gov/...
@repmiketurner US Rep. Mike Turner on x
Through hacking campaigns and plotting assassinations, Iran's clear objective is to target former President Trump and interfere in the U.S. election. What is also clear is that the Biden-Harris Administration is failing to respond to Iran. President Biden and Vice President
@kyledcheney Kyle Cheney on x
The hacking operation successfully compromised these people/organziations: [image]
@isaacdovere Edward-Isaac Dovere on x
among the people who inadvertently let hackers into their email accounts: a former homeland security advisor to a president, a former senior official at the CIA, a former deputy director of the CIA:
r/law r on reddit
Iranian operatives charged in the US with hacking Donald Trump's presidential campaign

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