Communications of the ACM
Microsoft Says Iran Tried Hack of U.S. Presidential Campaign
A hacker group connected to the Iranian government attempted to compromise the email accounts of a U.S. presidential campaign, current and former U.S. officials, and journalists, according to Microsoft.
Credit: Brobel Design/TIME
Microsoft has warned that a hacker group connected to the Iranian government attempted to compromise email accounts of a U.S. presidential campaign, current and former U.S. officials, and journalists, between August and September.
Microsoft's Tom Burt said the Phosphorous group infiltrated four such accounts, and it is uncertain if the consumer email accounts the company cited are personal, or official campaign accounts that would be deemed part of a campaign's infrastructure.
Phosphorous has previously targeted dissidents, activists, the defense sector, journalists, and government workers in the U.S. and Middle East.
Said John Hulquist with cybersecurity firm FireEye, "While we suspect that a lot of this activity is about collecting intelligence, Iran has a history of carrying out destructive attacks."
Microsoft in July said it had neutralized nearly 10,000 state-sponsored hacks over the previous year, which targeted mostly U.S.-based non-governmental organizations and think tanks.
From Bloomberg
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