Iranian Hackers Attempt To Influence US Elections By Hacking US Officials' WhatsApp Accounts, Meta Takes Action

Meta said that attackers tried to trick the officials into giving up their account information but, the officials reported it as suspicious activity after which the company blocked these fake accounts

Meta on Friday announced that it had stopped a potential hacking attempt made by an Iranian cyber group that was aimed at the WhatsApp accounts of US officials from both Joe Biden and Donald Trump's administration. According to the announcement, the hacking attempt was linked to APT42 which is known for working with Iranian military intelligence. As per the blog post of Meta, these hackers attempted to acces the accounts while pretending to be tech support from reputed companies like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft adn AOL. 

The blog post said that these attackers tried to trick the officials into giving up their account information, however, fortunately, they reported it as suspicious activity, following which Meta blocked the fake accounts of attackers before any damage could have been done. The company confirmed that there wasn't any evidence of the targetted WhatsApp accounts being successfully hacked.

External Forces Trying To Influence US Presidential Elections

Meta revealed that the latest hacking attempt is part of a larger campaign by the same group aimed at US presidential campaigns—a threat that had been flagged earlier this month by both Microsoft and Google. These attacks are especially alarming with the US presidential election just around the corner in November.

Although Meta did not specify the individuals targeted, they indicated that the hackers were focusing on political and diplomatic officials, business leaders, and other public figures. The targeted individuals were located in the US, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Iran, and the United Kingdom.

APT42 is a prominent hacking group recognized for its use of sophisticated surveillance tools to monitor individuals. These tools enable them to eavesdrop on phone conversations, intercept text messages, and activate cameras and microphones covertly. Cybersecurity professionals have been monitoring APT42 extensively, connecting them to various politically motivated cyber-attacks.