The hackers employed a technique known as social engineering, impersonating technical support staff from AOL, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft in an effort to deceive targets into revealing sensitive information, such as account passwords
WASHINGTON: Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has taken decisive action by blocking several WhatsApp groups linked to Iranian hackers. This move comes amid rising concerns over potential interference in the upcoming US presidential election. The groups in question were reportedly connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and were part of a broader effort to influence the 2024 election.
According to Meta, these hackers posed as technical support on WhatsApp, targeting individuals associated with the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. This same group has previously attempted phishing attacks against individuals connected to Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, as well as political and diplomatic officials, business leaders, and other public figures in Israel, Palestine, Iran, the US, and the UK.
The hackers employed a technique known as social engineering, where they impersonated technical support staff from AOL, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft in an effort to deceive targets into revealing sensitive information, such as account passwords. Meta identified the campaign after some targets reported suspicious messages to WhatsApp. While Meta stated that there is no evidence that these hackers successfully compromised any targeted accounts, the company has shared information with law enforcement and other tech companies. The US government has also underscored Iran’s attempts to hack both Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns as part of broader efforts to influence the outcome of the November election.
In a joint statement, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) emphasized that Iran views this election as crucial to its national security interests, prompting increasingly aggressive actions, including influence operations targeting the American public. The Trump campaign has attributed the leak of internal documents to Iranian hackers, an incident currently under investigation by the FBI. Meanwhile, the Harris campaign was warned by the FBI in July about being targeted by foreign influence operations but has not reported any security breaches.
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