The FBI and other investigators examining the apparent hack of Trump campaign documents, which the Republican presidential candidate has blamed on Iran, suspect that hackers managed to compromise the personal email account of Trump ally and strategist Roger Stone, Multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Hackers used access to Stone’s email account to try to break into the account of a senior Trump campaign official as part of a persistent effort to access campaign networks, one of the sources said.
The incident, which occurred in June, triggered a scramble for the Trump campaign, the FBI and Microsoft, which detected the hacking attempts, to contain the attack and determine whether there was a broader cyber threat from Iran.
Stone was informed by Microsoft and the FBI that his personal email had been compromised by a “foreign state actor” with the intention of using the account to trick Trump campaign officials into opening a link that would give the perpetrators access to the computer. of that person, one of the sources familiar said.
The Washington Post first reported that Stone’s account was targeted. The Trump campaign declined to comment on which account was breached.
The FBI also briefed the Biden-Kamala campaign in June about Iranian hackers targeting them, one of the sources said.
“Our campaign vigilantly monitors and protects against cyber threats, and we are not aware of any security breaches in our systems,” a Kamala campaign official told CNN.
The FBI said in a statement on Monday that it was investigating the reported cyberattack on the Trump campaign, but declined to comment further.
US intelligence officials briefed the Senate Intelligence Committee on the hacking attack, another source familiar with the matter told CNN.
Iran has denied the allegations, and the U.S. government has not publicly or officially pointed the finger at Iran. But the techniques used by the hackers to target the Trump campaign match those associated with Iranian hackers, according to a source familiar with the matter. .
The news adds to growing evidence that Iranian agents are mounting an aggressive effort to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election, overshadowing Russian activity.
US intelligence officials last month warned of an ongoing covert social media campaign by Iran to undermine Trump’s candidacy and increase “social discord” in the US ahead of the November elections.
This activity included the creation of fake news sites targeting liberal and conservative voters, according to Microsoft.
US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines also accused Iran of secretly trying to stoke protests in the US related to the Israel-Hamas conflict by posing as activists online and, in some cases, providing financial support to protesters.
Zachary Cohen of CNNcontributed to the report.
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