iscover
Share this article on:
Powered by
MOMENTUM
MEDIA
The US Department of Justice has indicted three members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for their alleged role in an election interference campaign.
Three Iranian nationals were charged last week for their alleged role in a hack-and-leak campaign targeting US officials, journalists, and – more broadly – the upcoming presidential election.
Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, and Yaser Balaghi – all in their 30s and in the employ of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – were all officially indicted by the US Department of Justice on 27 September.
All three had been involved in long-running cyber operations against American targets, according to the DOJ, and had compromised the accounts of several former government officials. However, the DOJ now believes the three used already established infrastructure to pivot to targeting campaign officials associated with an unnamed election campaign – likely referring to former president Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, which claimed to be the victim of an Iranian hacking campaign in August.
The DOJ alleges the Iranian hackers used access to those compromised accounts to access campaign documents and emails in May 2024 and then began sharing the stolen information with media outlets and Trump’s opponents in the then Biden/Harris campaign in June.
US Attorney-General Merrick B. Garland said the DOJ is working “relentlessly” to counter Iranian influence operations.
“The American people – not Iran, or any other foreign power – will decide the outcome of our country’s elections,” Garland said in a statement.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the charges were the result of a long-running investigation.
“The conduct laid out in the indictment is just the latest example of Iran’s brazen behaviour. So today, the FBI would like to send a message to the government of Iran – you and your hackers can’t hide behind your keyboards,” Wray said.
US political news outlet Politico said it had received internal Trump campaign documents in August, sent from an anonymous email account. Soon after, a Trump campaign spokesperson cited a Microsoft report that Iranian hackers were engaging in election interference.
“These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesperson, said in response to the leaks on 10 August.
“On Friday, a new report from Microsoft found that Iranian hackers broke into the account of a ‘high-ranking official’ on the US presidential campaign in June 2024, which coincides with the close timing of President Trump’s selection of a vice presidential nominee.”
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
Be the first to hear the latest developments in the cyber industry.
