Recent reports from federal agencies reveal that Iranian hackers made attempts to interfere in the 2024 election by targeting individuals associated with President Joe Biden's campaign. The hackers sent unsolicited emails containing stolen information from former President Donald Trump's campaign to people connected to the Democratic president.
Fortunately, there is no evidence that any recipients responded to these emails, preventing the hacked information from being used to influence the election outcome. The emails were sent in late June and early July to individuals who were previously linked to Biden's campaign.
The U.S. government confirmed that the emails included excerpts taken from non-public material stolen from Trump's campaign. This incident is part of Iran's ongoing efforts to interfere in the election process, with previous hack-and-leak campaigns also attributed to Tehran.
The FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have emphasized that these hacking attempts are aimed at undermining voters' trust in the election and sowing discord among the public.
Following the disclosure of the Trump campaign hack in August, it was revealed that Iranian actors had stolen and distributed sensitive internal documents. Several news outlets, including Politico, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, received leaked material but have not disclosed specific details.
Reports indicate that an anonymous source shared a research dossier on Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, with Politico. The document, dated months before Vance was selected as Trump's running mate, was part of the leaked material.
In response to these incidents, a spokesperson for Kamala Harris's campaign stated that they have cooperated with law enforcement after learning about the targeting of individuals associated with Biden's team. The campaign clarified that no material was directly sent to them, and the emails appeared to be spam or phishing attempts.