Iran has attacked about a dozen people associated with U.S. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Donald Trump in a sustained phishing attack. This was reported by Axios with reference to a report by Google, UNN reports.
Details
The publication notes that the report for the first time officially states that Iran has targeted, in particular, the Biden-Harris administration and related presidential campaigns.
In its report, Google indicates that APT42, the Iranian government hacking group known as Charming Kitten and Mint Sandstorm, attacked about a dozen people in May and June. One of the attacks was against a senior political consultant and was successful.
Google security researchers are still recording APT42 attempts to hack personal email accounts associated with Biden, Harris, and Trump.
According to the publication, APT42 techniques include embedding malicious links in both the text of emails and normal-looking PDF attachments, making them difficult for users to detect.
In addition, this group of hackers is known to interact with victims on encrypted messaging platforms such as Signal and WhatsApp to inspire trust.
Recall
Trump's campaign announced the hacking of computers, blaming Iran. This followed a Microsoft report on attempts to interfere with the 2024 US elections.