In a joint statement, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have warned about heightened Iranian efforts to interfere in the upcoming US elections.
The statement highlights Iran’s continued attempts to undermine confidence in American democratic processes and influence the election process.
The intelligence community has noted increasingly aggressive activity by Iran, including influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations directed at Presidential campaigns.
Importantly, the agencies attribute recent cyberattacks on former President Donald Trump’s campaign to Iranian operatives, indicating a broader strategy to gain access to individuals closely associated with both major political parties.
The statement highlighted Iran’s interest in exploiting societal tensions and its long-standing use of cyber operations to pursue its national security interests. Tehran perceives this year’s elections as particularly consequential, further motivating its attempts to shape the outcome.
The FBI is actively tracking these activities, engaging with victims, and working to disrupt the threat actors responsible. The agency stressed that protecting the integrity of the elections from foreign interference remains a top priority.
The statement also urged campaigns and election infrastructure stakeholders to up their security game, including using strong passwords, enabling multi-factor authentication, and reporting any suspicious activities.
The agencies encourage anyone with information about suspicious or criminal activity related to the elections to contact their local FBI field office by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or online at ic3.gov. Cyber incidents impacting election infrastructure can also be reported to CISA by calling 1-844-Say-CISA, emailing report@cisa.dhs.gov, or reporting online at cisa.gov/report. Election infrastructure stakeholders and the public can find additional resources about how to protect against cyber and physical threats at CISA’s #PROTECT2024.
The joint effort by US intelligence agencies reflects the ongoing concern over foreign interference in the democratic process, with a focus on ensuring the security and integrity of the upcoming elections.
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