Google Confirms Iranian Hackers Targeting Donald Trump and Kamala Harris Campaigns

The Californian internet giant explains that the hackers also targeted “high-profile users in Israel and the United States.”

Google announced on Wednesday, August 14, that an Iranian-affiliated hacking group, APT42, was targeting the campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, confirming the suspicions and accusations of their campaigns.

“In May and June, APT42 targeted the personal email accounts of approximately a dozen individuals affiliated with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, including current and former U.S. government officials and individuals associated with their respective campaigns.”a Google team responsible for analyzing online threats said in a blog post. It said it had “blocked many attempts by APT42 to connect to targeted individuals’ personal emails”.

The attacks continue, however. Google’s cybersecurity experts “continue to observe unsuccessful attempts by APT42 to compromise the personal accounts of individuals affiliated with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Donald Trump.” Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign said Tuesday it was targeted by foreign hackers.

According to Google experts, the hackers are using well-known tactics: they try to get in touch with their targets by pretending to be journalists, for example, and then send phishing emails containing fake links that then allow access to the emails of the trapped individuals.

The APT42 group is associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to Google. The Californian internet giant noted that the hackers had also targeted “high-level users in Israel and the United States,” including government officials, diplomats and researchers.