Feds Charge 3 Iranian Military Members for Hacking Trump Campaign in ‘Wide-Ranging’ Cyber Scheme
U.S. federal prosecutors charged three members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for targeting Republican nominee Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in a "wide-ranging" hacking scheme, according to an indictment unsealed Friday.
The three hackers—Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, and Yasar Balaghi—are charged with 18 counts, including "wire fraud, identity theft, conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, and hacking conspiracy," CBS News reported.
Jalili, Aghamiri, and Balaghi conducted a "wide-ranging hacking campaign that used spearphishing and social engineering techniques to target and compromise the accounts of current and former U.S. government officials, members of the media, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals associated with U.S. political campaigns," the prosecutors said.
While Iranian officials last week "categorically repudiate[d]" the allegations, claiming that the Islamic Republic "neither has any motive nor intent to interfere in the U.S. election," Trump’s campaign revealed last month that Iranian hackers had breached its internal systems and shared sensitive documents with reporters.
The charges come as U.S. intelligence officials increasingly warn of agents from foreign adversaries, including Iran, Russia, and China, ramping up efforts to disrupt the upcoming presidential election.
"Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former president Trump's campaign to U.S. media organizations," federal officials said in a statement last week.
Deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco on Thursday said the United States has been "seeing more threat actors getting into the game" of election interference, with the goal being to "sow discord, sow distrust in our election system and undermine confidence in our democratic process."
"There are few actors in this world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran," Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday.
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