Hackers tried to compromise Trump, Biden's campaign staffers
What's the story
As the US Presidential election closes in, cyber-criminals are growing active on the mission to interfere with the campaign of the candidates. Facebook and Twitter recently flagged accounts trying to sow discord among Americans, and now, Google has reported that certain foreign hackers attempted to compromise the staffers involved in the campaigns of President Trump and his rival Joe Biden. Here's more about it.
Issue
Staffers' personal emails targeted by Chinese, Iranian attackers
Just recently, Shane Huntley, the head of Google's Threat Analysis Group, shared a series of tweets detailing the hacking attempts made against the staffers of Trump and Biden. He claims that certain state-backed Chinese hackers attempted to break into the personal emails of Biden's staffers through a sophisticated phishing campaign, while those backed by Iran targeted Trump's staffers with a similar technique.
Impact
No sign of compromise
While the hacking attempts were made, they do not appear to have caused any damage to staffers or the campaigns they might be planning for Trump and Biden. There was no sign of compromise, Huntley said while noting that all the users who were targeted have been alerted with Google's government attack warning and law enforcement has also been notified for further investigation.
Quote
Staffers encouraged to use extra security: Google spokesperson
Speaking to The Verge on the matter, a Google spokesperson said, "We encourage campaign staff to use extra protection for their work and personal emails, and we offer security resources such as our Advanced Protection Program and free security keys for qualifying campaigns."
Response
Campaign heads said they were prepared for this
Following Google's report, Matt Hill, the Deputy National Press Secretary for Biden's campaign, said they were prepared for this. "We have known from the beginning of our campaign that we would be subject to such attacks and we are prepared for them," Hill told Reuters, noting that they "will remain vigilant against these threats." Trump's campaign spokesperson also echoed the same message.
Technique
No specific details available on the attack or the attackers
That being said, it remains unclear how exactly the hackers tried to phish the campaign staffers into giving away their confidential login-passwords and what steps are being taken to avoid them in the future. Notably, the Iranian group that targeted Trump's campaign was also involved in a similar attack carried out before as well as in the attack against pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences.