Iranian hackers target WhatsApp accounts of Biden and Trump administration associates, Meta says

By Jalen Beckford, CNN

(CNN) — An Iranian hacker group targeted the WhatsApp accounts of individuals associated with the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Meta announced Friday.

“This malicious activity originated in Iran and attempted to target individuals in Israel, Palestine, Iran, the United States and the UK,” the social media giant said in a statement, noting that the effort primarily focused on “political and diplomatic officials, and other public figures, including some associated with administrations of President Biden and former President Trump.”

This new report by Meta adds to the growing list of attempts by Iranian-backed hackers to influence the 2024 US presidential election.

Just last week, Google said an alleged Iranian hacking operation aimed at US presidential campaigns is ongoing and wide-ranging, after the platform announced unsuccessful attempts by hackers to log in to the email accounts of people associated with Biden, Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris and both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns.

On Monday, US intelligence agencies officially linked Iran to an instance of a hack and leak operation targeting Trump’s campaign, after hackers used access to Trump operative Roger Stone’s email account to try to break into the account of another campaign official.

The FBI pointed to a statement from Monday when asked about the purported latest hacking attempts by Iran.

The intelligence community “is confident that the Iranians have through social engineering and other efforts sought access to individuals with direct access to the presidential campaigns of both political parties,” the FBI and other agencies said Monday in a joint statement.

Meta said its investigation linked the efforts to a group called “APT42,” known for using phishing tactics to steal credentials to people’s online accounts.

Meta’s security team blocked a cluster of accounts posing as support agents for various tech companies, an activity it linked to APT42.

“We have not seen evidence of the targeted WhatsApp accounts being compromised, but out of an abundance of caution, we’re sharing our findings publicly, in addition to sharing information with law enforcement and our industry peers,” the tech company said.

CNN has reached out to both the White House and the Trump campaign for comment.

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