FBI investigates possible hacker attack on Trump’s campaign team

A few months before the US election, reporters are allegedly leaked internal communications from the Trump team. Are foreign hackers interfering in the election campaign?

The FBI is investigating possible hacking of internal communications of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign team. This was confirmed by the US Federal Police on request. The Washington Post reported, citing people familiar with the situation, that the FBI is also investigating a possible hacker attack on the Democratic opponent’s campaign team.

The news portal “Politico” first reported on the case at the weekend. According to the report, Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung spoke of a hack after the online portal received several emails from a sender named “Robert” containing internal communications from the campaign team. The Washington Post claimed to have been contacted in a similar way. A 271-page internal dossier on Trump’s vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance is said to have been leaked to the US media. One of the purposes of such dossiers in the US election campaign is to be better prepared for political attacks from the other side.

Spear phishing from Iran?

According to “Politico”, the Trump team blamed “foreign actors hostile to the US” for the cyberattack, citing a threat analysis by the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center which, among other things, deals with alleged Iranian interference in the US election campaign. The report states that a group linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards – the Islamic Republic’s elite military force – had penetrated the account of a former high-ranking member of an election campaign team and sent so-called spear-phishing emails. However, Microsoft did not identify any specific individuals or parties in the report.

The Trump team also did not provide “Politico” with any direct evidence of a hack by Iranian actors. The Washington Post, citing informants familiar with the situation, said that while the FBI suspected Iranian actors were behind the cyberattacks, it was less clear whether the same groups had also sent the emails to the US journalists. CNN reported, citing an inside source, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had briefed US President Joe Biden’s team – who has since made way for Kamala Harris in the election campaign – in June about the risk of possible Iranian cyberattacks. However, the FBI did not mention Iran in its statement on the investigation.

dpa