Trump campaign cites Iran election phish claim as evidence leaked docs were stolen
- Reference: 1723440846
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/08/12/trump_campaign_hacked_iran_claim/
- Source link:
The claim was made after US outlet Politico [1]reported an anonymous email account sent it a dossier of information sourced from within the campaign operation, but the entity who sent the docs declined to explain how they came by the info. The New York Times [2]claims it was sent "a similar if not identical trove of data from an anonymous tipster purporting to be the same person who emailed the documents to Politico."
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Politico the documents were "obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States" as part of a plan to interfere in forthcoming US elections. Cheung mentioned a Microsoft [3]report published last week that claims an Iranian crew sent a spear-phishing email to "a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign" using a "compromised email account of a former senior advisor."
[4]
Microsoft has not said which campaign was targeted by the activity it observed – but The Washington Post has [5]reported the Trump campaign was the target of the activity Microsoft described.
[6]Michigan probes Musk-backed PAC website that weirdly tried and failed to help register people to vote
[7]Kamala Harris's $7M support from LinkedIn founder comes with a request: Fire Lina Khan
[8]Semiconductor shares slump – possibly thanks to Biden and Trump
[9]'Gay furry hackers' say they've disbanded after raiding Project 2025's Heritage Foundation
The Register is unaware of any evidence that the Iranian phishing expedition succeeded, or was the source of the documents sent to Politico.
Infosec experts are nearly always very cautious before attributing attacks to a particular entity. Cheung appears not to have evidence the leaked documents were the result of action by a foreign actor.
[10]
Politico has only said it has corresponded with the anonymous emailer, and that entity pushed back when asked to divulge how they came by the docs.
No alternative theory of the documents' origins has been advanced, yet there are myriad ways a document could be exfiltrated from an organization – not all of them the result of malicious action.
[11]
Further, many actors have motivations to leak info. While it is known that many states seek to meddle in rivals' domestic affairs, politics is often a dirty business – rival factions of a party leaking info to damage internal enemies is not an unheard of occurrence. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/10/trump-campaign-hack-00173503
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/11/us/politics/trump-campaign-hacking-iran.html
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/09/iran_state_groups_lay_groundwork/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZrndRwyKk6Q5QOr4FRHY5QAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/10/trump-hack-iran-vance-report/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/05/michigan_election_officials_probe_website/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/26/harris_hoffman_ftc_boss/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/18/semiconductor_shares_slump_us_politics/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/12/gay_furry_hackers_2025/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZrndRwyKk6Q5QOr4FRHY5QAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZrndRwyKk6Q5QOr4FRHY5QAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Ehhh, so what
Foreign interference, hacked communications... It's funny, but looking at the Trump campaign this time around, I'm reminded powerfully of the Clinton campaign in 2016. There's the same sense of righteous helplessness, the same indignant incredulity that somehow they're being beaten and they know perfectly well why, but since they can't admit that their candidate is a toxic heap of guano, they can't propose the one thing that might help.
Trump has cost the Republicans four elections already (house in 2018 and 2020, senate and presidency in 2020). And so, of course they nominated him again.
It’s a Trump based story
Truth is entirely optional.
Having promised a reward
for Russia finding the "missing" emails from Clinton's server, objecting to foreign interference is a bit rich though true to form.
When I hear Trump speaking/lying, I can't help but think about Giant Douche in South Park.
Important question missing
Which Iranian official did Trump let use the Mar-a-Lago bathroom?
Re: Important question missing
Let? The door was never locked.
"The Register is unaware of any evidence"
The Trump campaign is as well, but that won't keep them from spouting their bullshit.
False flag
https://www.oglaf.com/wolf/
A formula?
Your mission, dear reader, if you choose to accept it, is to calculate the number of Trump supporters who read this esteemed forum, by the number of down votes to each post.
It seems they're coming out of the woodwork.
Ehhh, so what
Plenty of speculation about who leaked the docs, and whether it was intentional or whatever. Nobody cares! Nobody cares about what the documents even say, since Trump is a known liar and the entire Republican Party is gaslighting so hard everybody’s walking around stupefied by the fumes.
Notice that the actual content of whatever was stolen, if it was really stolen, is completely irrelevant. Whether the “spear fishing” yarn was true or not, whatever “documents” were leaked were all nothing but contrived bullshit either way. It’s the only thing everybody knows for sure with respect to this entire sordid affair..