WASHINGTON — Donald Trump has become the first presidential candidate to face simultaneous intervention from two opposing foreign powers: one attempting to help him win, and the other striving to defeat him, according to former U.S. officials and cybersecurity experts.
"Russia is backing Trump, while Iran is working against him. The differences are clear," said Mike Hamilton, a security analyst and former government cybersecurity official, in an interview with USA TODAY.
The full extent of these efforts is still emerging as U.S. intelligence agencies work to identify and disrupt the various tactics employed by Moscow and Tehran to influence the U.S. electorate.
Much of this covert activity involves using deep fakes, fake influencers, and other forms of social media propaganda, similar to past election cycles. However, the stakes are higher with sensitive information and strategies hidden behind the firewalls of the Trump and Kamala Harris campaigns.
U.S. officials and private cybersecurity analysts report that Iran executed a sophisticated "spear phishing" operation to obtain and leak the Trump campaign’s internal dossier on potential GOP running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, to prominent media outlets.
In a similar vein, Russia employed a nearly identical malicious email phishing scheme in the past, which played a key role in propelling the real estate mogul from relative obscurity to secure the GOP nomination and defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton eight years ago.
However, this time around, there is a significant difference: While Russia persists in its efforts to support Trump, Iran, alarmed by Trump’s hardline stance on its expansionist ambitions and illicit nuclear program, has adopted the Kremlin's 2016 tactics. Iran is reportedly hacking and leaking potentially damaging communications from Trump's own campaign.
"The fact that we have concrete evidence of foreign governments interfering in our elections is obviously a major concern," said Adam Marrè, a former FBI Special Agent who specialized in cyber investigations and foreign influence operations in the U.S.
"I’m not certain this is the first election where multiple governments have tried to influence candidates," Marrè told USA TODAY. "However, it might be the first time we are so aware of these efforts as a public in real time."
The Trump campaign has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the foreign hacking activities.
So far, Russia has not publicly executed a "hack and leak" operation in this election cycle, unlike Iran. However, as former cybersecurity official Chris Krebs points out, there is still ample time before Election Day for such activities to occur.
“Buckle up,” Krebs, the former director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, posted on X last Saturday.
“Someone is following the 2016 playbook,” Krebs said, noting, “We should anticipate ongoing attempts to inflame societal tensions and target election systems. … More is coming, and we need to be ready for what lies ahead.”
Krebs also referred to the “Russification of Iranian information operations” as a troubling new development in foreign efforts to influence U.S. elections.
"You might not like the victim here, but the adversary doesn’t care who you support or oppose," Krebs said, referring to Trump, who dismissed him from his position as head of CISA after Krebs declared the 2020 election—an election Trump sought to overturn—was the safest and most secure in U.S. history.
He added, “The adversaries have their own objectives, and you’re the target. Take this seriously.”
**Trump Hack vs. Hillary Hack**
The Trump campaign acknowledged the hack on the same day Politico reported receiving emails from an anonymous source containing internal documents from Trump’s campaign, including a dossier on potential vice presidential candidates such as Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded, “The Iranians know that President Trump will put an end to their reign of terror just as he did during his first term in office.” He added, “Any media outlet that republishes these documents or internal communications is effectively doing the bidding of America’s adversaries and playing right into their hands.”
The day before, Microsoft’s security team revealed the Iranian hacking effort, which followed recent warnings from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) about Iran’s attempts to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.
Both The Washington Post and The New York Times reported receiving similar documents, but none of the news outlets are believed to have published anything based on the stolen material.
This has led to complaints from Clinton surrogates about a double standard, recalling how numerous outlets published damaging information from the hacked emails of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta just weeks before the 2016 election.
While Iran aims to undermine the former president and GOP nominee, U.S. intelligence officials have indicated that Russia is working to sway the election in Trump’s favor.
In several briefings this year, officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have avoided direct attribution, refraining from specifying which country is targeting which candidate to either support or harm them.
U.S. officials have also emphasized that Russia, Iran, China, and potentially other countries are expected to interfere in the election to create divisions within the American electorate.
In a July briefing, Reuters reported a U.S. intelligence official stating, "We have not seen a change in Russia's preferences for the presidential race compared to past elections, especially given the U.S. stance on Ukraine and broader policy toward Russia."
Trump has frequently criticized U.S. military support for Ukraine and has hinted that he would either end or significantly reduce American aid if re-elected.
Adam Hickey, a former deputy assistant attorney general who led U.S. efforts to counter Russian election interference before moving to private practice in May 2023, has been a key figure in these efforts.
More: Iran's Cyber Interference in the Upcoming U.S. Election, Microsoft Warns
He noted that the conflicting objectives of Russian and Iranian hackers targeting the Trump campaign represent the start of a new era of espionage in U.S. elections.
“You could envision a scenario where multiple nations hack and release information from both campaigns, and I believe that’s where we might be heading,” Hickey said.
Hickey’s primary concern isn’t that these election hacks will directly alter the outcome by changing enough votes. Rather, he worries that extensive foreign influence might not change votes but could erode public trust by creating the perception that the election results are unreliable.
On Monday, while the FBI confirmed its investigation into allegations that Iranian cyber agents breached Trump’s campaign, The Washington Post reported that the Harris campaign had also been targeted by a failed spear phishing attempt.
“Every country has a stake in this election,” Hamilton said. “Whether they act overtly like Iran or operate more covertly like Russia, all of them are working towards their own preferred outcome.”
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