Hackers compete to sink, boost Trump
Iran, Russia at olds in efforts to sway election
By: Josh Meyer
USA Today
WASHINGTON - Donald Trump has become the first presidential candidate to have one hostile foreign power actively hacking the election to help him win and another aggressively trying to defeat him, former U.S. officials and cybersecurity analysts say.
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"Russia wants Trump, Iran doesn't. Those are clear," security analyst and former government cybersecurity officials Mike Hamilton told USA Today.
..... The contours of those efforts are still unfolding as U.S. intelligence works to uncover and disrupt the myriad ways in which Moscow and Tehran are targeting the U.S. electorate.
..... Most of that covert effort involves swaying potential voters through deep-fakes, bogus influencer and other propaganda on social media, as they have in past election cycles.
..... But sweeter prises lie behind the firewalls of the Trump and Kamala Harris presidential campaigns.
..... According to U.S. officials and private cybersecurity analysts, Iran used a sophisticated "spear phishing" operation to obtain and leak to prominent media outlets the Trump campaign's internal dossiers on his GOP running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance.
.....Russia used a nearly identical malicious email phishing operation to help the real estate mogul win the GOP nomination and defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton eight years ago.
..... This time, Iran - concerned about Trump's hard-line approach to its expansionist efforts and illicit nuclear program - has stolen the Kremlin's 2016 playbook and allegedly hacked and leaked potentially embarrassing communications, this time from the former president's own campaign.
..... "The fact that we have direct knowledge of foreign governments interfering in our elections, obviously, is a huge cause for concern," said former FBI Special Agent Adam Marre, who specialized in cyber investigations including foreign influence efforts in the U.S.
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"Now, I don't know that this is the first election where we know that multiple governments have been involved" in trying to boost or undermine candidates, Marre told USA Today.
..... But, he added, "I do think this may be the first one where we are as aware of it as a citizenry in real time."
..... The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the foreign hacking competition.
..... So far, Russia hasn't gone public with a "hack and leak" in the current election cycle like Iran is believed to have. But as former cybersecurity official Chris Krebs notes, there's still plenty of time between now and Election Day. [11/2024]
..... "Buckle up," Krebs, the former director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, posted August 10 [2024] on X after the Trump hack and leak became public.
..... Krebs described "the Russificaiton of Iranian info ops' as a "nasty" new wrinkle in foreign efforts to influence U.S. elections.
..... "You might not like the victim here, but the adversary gives zero F's who you like or don't like," Krebs said of Trump, who fired him as head of CISA after Krebs said the 2020 election - which Trump tried to overturn - had been the safest and most secure in U.S. history.
..... "They have their own objectives and guess what, you're the target. Take this seriously."
Trump hack vs. Clinton hack
..... The acknowledgment of the hack by the Trump campaign came on the same day that Politico reported receiving emails form an anonymous account with documents: Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
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"The Iranians know that President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House," Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. "Any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America's enemies and doing exactly what they want."
..... The day before, Microsoft's security team disclosed the hacking effort by Iran, which came shortly after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued warnings about Iran's efforts to meddle in the presidential election.
..... The Washington Post and New York Times also reported receiving similar documents. So far, no news outlet is believed to have published anything based on the purloined material.
..... While Iran works to damage the former president and GOP nominee, US. intelligence officials have said Russia is trying to influence the election in Trump's favor.
..... In several briefings with reporters this year [2024] U.S. officials have shied away from what is know as direct attribution, or specifying which country is targeting which particular candidate in order to help or harm them.
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They have also stressed that Russia, Iran, china and perhaps other countries will likely meddle in the election to sow divisions within the American electorate.
..... Trump has frequently criticized U.S. military support for Ukraine and has strongly suggested he would discontinue or sharply curtail. American aid if he returns to the White House.
..... Adam Hickey, a former deputy assistant attorney general overseeing the justice Department's national security division, helped lead U.S efforts to counter Russian efforts to influence U.S. elections before leaving for private practice in May 2023.
..... He said the competing aims of Russian and Iranian hackers over the Trump campaign marks the beginning of such spy-vs-spy efforts when it comes to U.S. elections.
..... "You can imagine an election where there are hacks and dumps of both campaign by different nations, and I think that may ultimately be the world we're headed for," Hickeys aid.
..... On August 12, [2024] as the FBI confirmed it is investigating allegations that Iranian cyber agents breached Trump's campaign, the Harris campaign revealed it too was the victim of a failed spear phishing attack, The Washington Post reported.
..... "Every country has a dog in this fight," Hamilton said. "Whether they show up like Iran did - loud, splashy - or are working under the covers like Russia, they're all working toward a preferred outcome."