US says Iran responsible for Trump campaign hack

US Representative Lucy McBath (D-GA) holds a sign as US President Joe Biden delivers the keynote address on the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 19, 2024. [AFP]

Iran was behind a recent hack targeting Donald Trump's presidential campaign, US security agencies said on Monday, accusing Tehran of seeking to influence the 2024 election.

The statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) confirmed the Trump campaign claim from earlier this month that it had been targeted, potentially by Iran.

"We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle, specifically involving influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations targeting presidential campaigns," the security agencies said.

"This includes the recently reported activities to compromise former President Trump's campaign, which the (intelligence community) attributes to Iran," they said.

The intelligence community "is confident that the Iranians have through social engineering and other efforts sought access to individuals with direct access to the presidential campaigns of both political parties. Such activity, including thefts and disclosures, are intended to influence the US election process."

Trump's campaign said on August 10 that it had been hacked, blaming "foreign sources" for distributing internal communications and a dossier on running mate J.D. Vance.

"These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process," Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.

Trump's campaign implied Iran was behind the move as news outlet Politico reported it had received emails with the campaign material from a source who refused to identify themselves.

Cheung cited a report from Microsoft this week that said Iranian hackers "sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign."

The materials received by Politico included research on vetting Vance, Trump's vice presidential pick.

In 2016, a hack of Democratic National Committee emails -- blamed on Russians -- exposed internal party communications, including about candidate Hillary Clinton.

Trump, who would go on to win the election, was criticized for encouraging the hack.