Iranian hackers indicted for targeting Trump campaign

Two Iranian hackers were indicted on Thursday for allegedly waging an intimidation and disinformation campaign ahead of the 2020 U.S. election.

According to a Justice Department press release, Seyyed Kazemi and Sajjad Kashian sent threatening emails to try to intimidate voters, attempted to break into several states’ voting-related websites and ultimately gained access to a U.S. media company’s computer network.

If it weren’t for the FBI and victim company’s successful efforts to mitigate, the breach “would have provided the conspirators another vehicle to disseminate false claims after the election,” the press release continues.

“As alleged, Kazemi and Kashian were part of a coordinated conspiracy in which Iranian hackers sought to undermine faith and confidence in the U.S. presidential election,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. “Working with others, Kazemi and Kashian accessed voter information from at least one state’s voter database, threatened U.S. voters via email, and even disseminated a fictitious video that purported to depict actors fabricating overseas ballots.

"The allegations illustrate how foreign disinformation campaigns operate and seek to influence the American public," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen. "The department is committed to exposing and disrupting malign foreign influence efforts using all available tools, including criminal charges."

Although the public’s attention has been focused on Russian attempts at undermining President Biden’s campaign, the Justice Department’s indictment makes clear that the Iranian hackers were intent on harming former President Trump’s reelection chances.

In a March 2021 assessment, U.S. intelligence officials noted that the hacker’s efforts were likely authorized by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, but that there was no evidence to suggest that any voters' registration or vote was changed, the AP reported.

Following the government's indictment of Kazemi and Kashian, the Treasury Department announced that it will be imposing sanctions on the two Iranian nationals. 

Both hackers remain at large and are believed to reside in Iran, where they are thought to be working at Iranian tech company Emennet Pasargad.