Meta claims Iranian hackers targeted Biden and Trump staffers on WhatsApp
The Iranian hacking group believed to have targeted the Democrat and Republican election campaigns also tried to hack the WhatsApp accounts of Biden and Trump staffers, according to Meta, the company that owns the messaging service.
Meta claim to have discovered a network of Iranian hackers who posed as tech-support agents for a number of different companies including AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google. These fake tech-support agents sent suspicious WhatsApp messages to potential targets, who reported them.
In a statement released on Friday, Meta said the messages were targeted at individuals in the Middle East, the US and the UK, including political and diplomatic figures.
“We have not seen evidence of the targeted WhatsApp accounts being compromised, but out of an abundance of caution, we’re sharing our findings publicly, in addition to sharing information with law enforcement and our industry peers,” Meta said.
Earlier this month, Google also reported that the same Iranian group has attempted to gain access to the email accounts of around a dozen people linked to Biden and Trump. Microsoft has also released a warned about Iranian cyberattacks during the election.
The FBI stated this week that Iran is stepping up its efforts to interfere in the US presidential election. Intelligence officials have warned that Iran wants to trick voters, undermine US support for Israel and prevent the election of political candidates who are anti-Iran.
The Iranian regime has been linked to anti-Israel protests on American campuses. In July, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said there was evidence the Iranians were providing covert support to pro-Gaza groups, including financial support.
Iran has sworn personal revenge against Donald Trump after he sanctioned Iran and killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
