Donald Trump Campaign Hack: What We Know

Former President Donald Trump's campaign has confirmed a breach of its internal communications, as reported by Politico on Saturday. This breach has ignited concerns about potential foreign interference in the 2024 presidential election and exposed vulnerabilities in campaign cybersecurity.

Politico's report emerged after the Trump campaign disclosed the breach, following Politico's receipt of emails from an anonymous source containing what appeared to be genuine internal campaign documents. Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment but had not received a response by Saturday evening.

The Breach: Details and Responses:

The Trump campaign reported that the breach involved the unauthorized access and theft of internal communications and documents. The campaign has implicated "foreign sources hostile to the United States," hinting at a possible state-sponsored attack. The precise nature and extent of the compromised information remain unclear.

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, informed Politico that the stolen documents were obtained illegally from foreign entities intent on disrupting the 2024 election and creating chaos within the democratic process. Cheung cited a recent Microsoft report that identified Iranian hackers targeting a "high-ranking official" on a U.S. presidential campaign in June 2024. However, Microsoft has not confirmed which campaign was targeted or offered further details, and Politico has not verified the identity or motives of the hackers.

Microsoft Report: Broader Context:

Microsoft's report, released on Thursday, reveals that Iran-backed hackers targeted a senior official at an unspecified U.S. presidential campaign in a spear-phishing attack in June. The report indicates that several Iranian groups have been involved in aggressive disinformation and hacking efforts aimed at influencing the 2024 U.S. presidential elections.

The group known as Mint Sandstorm, associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) intelligence unit, was identified as responsible for the June attack. The hackers exploited a compromised email account from a former senior campaign adviser, sending a link to a domain controlled by the attackers.

Interestingly, the same group attempted to access an account belonging to a former presidential candidate shortly before the phishing attack on an active campaign. Microsoft noted that while this group's activity is consistent with their routine targeting of senior political figures, there isn't enough evidence to confirm that the activity is specifically aimed at influencing the 2024 election.

Iranian Involvement?

The Trump campaign has suggested that Iran might be behind the attack, drawing from the Microsoft report and recent intelligence about possible Iranian schemes against the former president. Cheung stated, "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."

Despite these claims, Iran's involvement has not been independently verified. Neither Microsoft, Politico, nor U.S. intelligence agencies have confirmed Iran's role in this specific incident. The Trump campaign has yet to provide additional evidence to support their allegation of Iranian involvement.

Recent assessments by the U.S. intelligence community indicate that Iran has been using covert methods to undermine the Trump campaign, which aligns with the broader concerns highlighted in the Microsoft report about Iran's increasing aggression in targeting U.S. elections, alongside Russia and China.

Cybersecurity Landscape:

The Microsoft report also sheds light on the broader cybersecurity landscape. It reveals that Iran's cyber activities extend beyond federal government offices and political campaigns. For instance, in May, another Iranian group, Peach Sandstorm or APT33, successfully compromised an account belonging to a county government employee in a swing state through a password spraying attack.

Various Iranian groups have been disseminating fake news stories targeting U.S. voters across the political spectrum, some of which appear to use AI tools to replicate content from U.S. publications, enhancing their credibility.

Christopher Krebs, the former top election security official who was dismissed by Trump in 2020 for challenging unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, commented on the situation. On X (formerly Twitter), Krebs noted, "Buckle up. Confirmed hack & leak of Trump Campaign sensitive documents. Initial response by Campaign suggests foreign sources, coinciding with Microsoft's alert from this past week and the @ODNIgov alert of the week before. Someone is running the 2016 playbook, expect continued efforts to stoke fires in society and go after election systems - 95% votes on paper ballots is a strong resilience measure, combined with audits. But the chaos is the point…."

Krebs’ reference to the "2016 playbook" evokes memories of the 2016 Democratic National Committee (DNC) hack, which had a significant impact on that year's presidential election.

Looking Forward:

The reported breach of the Trump campaign underscores the persistent vulnerability of political campaigns to cyber-attacks and raises important questions about the readiness of campaigns to defend against such threats. Both political campaigns and voters are advised to remain vigilant and prioritize robust cybersecurity practices.