In this scenario, Iranian cybercriminals intentionally stir up controversy within the American election process.
In the heated election campaign in the U.S., Democrats and Republicans are at each other's throats. Despite this, Iran is reportedly trying to fan the flames of conflict further. Allegedly, hackers breached the Trump team's system and sent the stolen data to the Biden camp during the summer. This isn't the only attempt to interfere with the U.S. elections, sources claim.
Intelligence agencies and the FBI have disclosed fresh details about the Iranian hack on the internal communication of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign team, which was made public in August. According to their statement, Iranian hackers sent the stolen information to individuals linked to the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden at the end of June and beginning of July.
The objective of such actions is to create chaos, undermine faith in the election process, and sway the results of the U.S. elections, stated a joint statement from the FBI, ODNI (Office of the National Intelligence), and Cisa (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency). No evidence was found that the recipients responded to or acted upon the forwarded stolen information. Iranian hackers continued to send non-public material from the Trump team to U.S. media.
The agencies warned that "foreign actors" were escalating their efforts to influence the elections prior to the presidential election on November 5. "Notably, Russia, Iran, and China are trying to widen social rifts in the U.S. and view elections as potential weak points." Such influence poses an immediate threat to the U.S. and will not be tolerated.
Spurious News about Harris Accident Claim
Microsoft is said to have exposed a Russian disinformation campaign targeting U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The American software company flagged a misleading video that falsely accused Harris of causing a 2011 car accident that injured a 13-year-old girl and then fleeing the scene. This video was reportedly crafted by a Russian group known as Storm-1516, a so-called "troll factory" for online manipulations linked to the Kremlin.
Storm-1516 is infamous among experts for producing misleading videos featuring actors posing as whistleblowers or journalists spreading sensational falsehoods. In the case of the allegedly hit-and-run, the group reportedly paid an actress to portray the victim, falsely claimed to be paralyzed since the accident. Additionally, a phony website for a non-existent news station called "KBSF-TV" was set up. The fabricated story was disseminated through this site and also circulated on social media platforms like Twitter. In total, the video was estimated to have been clicked on more than 2.7 million times.
In response to the ongoing election interference attempts, when asked about the U.S. elections, Donald Trump stated, "I'm not going to engage in the politicized allegations without proper evidence." Creating a distraction from the election interference, a misleading video about Kamala Harris was circulated on social media, with claims of her causing a car accident and fleeing the scene.
