On Friday, Microsoft researchers reported that hackers affiliated with the Iranian government attempted to compromise the account of a high-ranking official involved in the U.S. presidential campaign in June.

This incident follows a previous breach of a county-level U.S. official’s account.

The researchers’ report, which lacks specific details about the targeted “official,” highlights the escalating efforts of Iranian groups to influence the upcoming U.S. presidential election in November.

These findings align with recent statements from senior U.S. Intelligence officials regarding Iran’s increased use of covert social media accounts to sow political discord within the United States.

The Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York provided a statement to Reuters, asserting that their cyber capabilities are solely employed for defensive purposes, commensurate with the threats they face. They firmly deny any intentions to initiate cyber attacks. Furthermore, the mission emphasized that the United States presidential election is an internal matter, and Iran refrains from any form of interference. These statements were made in response to the allegations presented in the Microsoft report.

A report indicated that a faction associated with the intelligence division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) dispatched a spear-phishing email to a senior official involved in a presidential campaign.

Additionally, another group believed to have connections to the IRGC successfully compromised a user account with limited access at a county-level government entity.

This activity appears to be part of a larger initiative by Iranian organizations aimed at gathering intelligence on U.S. political campaigns and specifically targeting swing states.

The breach of the county employee's account occurred in May and was part of a broader "password spray operation," wherein hackers employ commonly used or previously leaked passwords across numerous accounts until they gain access to one.

Fortunately, the hackers did not manage to infiltrate any additional accounts through this breach, and the affected targets were duly informed.

Furthermore, researchers noted that another Iranian group has been creating "covert" news websites that utilize artificial intelligence to extract content from legitimate news sources, aiming to influence U.S. voters across the political spectrum.

The report identified two such sites: Nio Thinker, which leans left, and Savannah Time, which is conservative in nature. Upon review on Friday, both websites exhibited similar formats on their 'About Us' pages and lacked any contact information.

Nio Thinker describes itself as "your go-to destination for insightful, progressive news and analysis that challenges the status quo," while Savannah Time claims to be "a reflection of the values that make Savannah unique" and a platform "where conservative values meet local insight."