Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s campaign recently disclosed that it had been the target of foreign hackers, just days after President Donald Trump’s campaign suggested it had been hacked by Iran.
A Harris campaign official confirmed to AFP that in July, the campaign’s legal and security teams were alerted by the FBI about an attempted influence operation by a foreign actor.
While the campaign did not specify which foreign power was believed to be behind the attempt, they emphasized that robust cybersecurity measures had been implemented and reassured that there was no evidence of any security breaches resulting from the attempted interference. The campaign remains in close contact with law enforcement agencies as a precautionary measure.
This revelation comes on the heels of the Trump campaign’s announcement that it had also been targeted by foreign hackers, allegedly from Iran.
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Last Saturday, the Trump campaign claimed that documents, including research materials used to vet Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance, were stolen and sent to reporters. The campaign warned media outlets against publishing the stolen documents, stating that doing so would be “doing the bidding of America’s enemies.”
The U.S. State Department responded on Monday with a stern warning to Iran, promising consequences for any election interference.
The tone of the Trump campaign’s response stands in stark contrast to 2016 when Trump publicly encouraged Russia to “find” Hillary Clinton’s emails during a news conference, a remark widely interpreted as a call for further cyberattacks on his opponent. U.S. intelligence agencies later concluded that Russia had indeed intervened in the 2016 election to support Trump, a finding that Trump has consistently denied.