Iran Behind Hack Attacks, Online Disinformation Campaigns to Boost Biden

Iran is behind an ongoing series of hack attacks and online disinformation campaigns meant to influence the 2020 U.S. presidential election and boost Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

The Islamic Republic is betting on Biden's campaign, according to regional experts and U.S. officials tracking the country's efforts to sway the presidential contest. Tehran has engaged in cyber espionage operations targeting President Donald Trump's campaign since late 2019, cyber experts say. It also has joined adversarial regimes such as Russia and China in waging online disinformation campaigns on social media as part of a larger effort to polarize voters and sow discord across America.

Iran's efforts include amplifying anti-Trump voices in its state-controlled news outlets and creating false online personas to elevate similar material. Both Facebook and Twitter have moved in recent months to remove a litany of false accounts that they say were controlled mainly by Iran, Russia, and China. These countries have promoted disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic and critiques of Trump's response. The sophistication of these attacks has ranged from advanced stealth efforts to infiltrate the campaign and elected officials to more amateurish campaigns promoting propaganda via a slew of false social media accounts.