META.O said on Friday it had identified possible hacking attempts on the WhatsApp accounts of U.S. officials from the administrations of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, blaming the same Iranian hacking group revealed earlier this month for compromising the Trump campaign.
In a blog post, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp described the attempt as a “small group of likely social engineering activities on WhatsApp” involving accounts posing as technical support for AOL, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.
It locked the accounts after users reported the activity as suspicious and had not seen any evidence to suggest the targeted WhatsApp accounts had been compromised, it said.
Meta attributed the activity to APT42, a hacking group widely believed to be associated with an intelligence division within Iran’s military that is known for placing surveillance software on its victims’ mobile phones. According to researchers tracking the group, the software allows the team to record calls, steal text messages and silently turn on cameras and microphones.
The text connected the group’s activity to efforts to hack U.S. presidential campaigns reported by Microsoft and Google earlier this month, ahead of the November U.S. presidential election. Democratic Party presidential candidate U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump speak during a presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2024, in a combination photo. (credit: REUTERS/BRIAN SNYDER/FILE PHOTO)
Addressing political officials
The company’s blog post did not name the targeted individuals, only stating that the hackers “appeared to have targeted political and diplomatic officials, businesspeople, and other public figures, including some associated with the administrations of President Biden and former President Trump.”
The figures were reported to be located in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Iran, the United States and the United Kingdom.