The United States put bounties on three Iranian hackers, charging them with multiple crimes in connection with an attempt to undermine former President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign and upend the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
U.S. Justice Department assigns responsibility for Iran’s long-standing efforts, as well as a recent hack-and-leak operation aimed at derailing the Trump campaign, to three hackers employed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC.
It accuses Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, and Yaser Balaghi of engaging in what prosecutors describe as a wide-ranging campaign to hack into the work and personal email accounts of current and former government officials, campaign officials, and members of the media.
Prosecutors said their list of victims includes a former State Department official, a former presidential homeland security adviser, and at least two former CIA officials.
Friday’s actions by multiple U.S. government agencies came with just a little over a month until U.S. voters go to the polls and as U.S. officials seek to push back against what they describe as ever more brazen attempts by Iran to foment division and discord in Washington and beyond.
“You and your hackers can’t hide behind your keyboards,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray in a video statement.
“If you try to meddle in our elections, we’re going to hold you accountable,” Wray said. “As long as you keep attempting to flout the rule of law, you’re going to keep running into the FBI.”
Information released late Wednesday by U.S. intelligence officials indicates Iranian cyber actors not only tried to leak stolen Trump campaign documents to media organizations but tried to feed them to Biden campaign officials.
The Trump campaign first announced the suspected hack last month, initially blaming “foreign sources hostile to the United States.” U.S. intelligence officials attributed the attack to Iran about a week later.
Iranian officials have previously and repeatedly rejected U.S. accusations of election meddling.
