Meta warned US presidential campaigns on Friday after it was discovered that a network of hackers with ties to Iran was responsible for “malicious activity” on the messaging service WhatsApp.

“Our investigation linked this activity to APT42, an Iranian cybercriminal known for its persistent online phishing campaigns targeting political and diplomatic officials and other public figures,” the tech giant said.

Meta added that several officials with ties to the administrations of US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump had been targeted.

The company said it had found no evidence that the WhatsApp accounts targeted in the attacks had been hacked.

“Given the heightened threat environment leading up to the US elections, we also shared information about these malicious activities with law enforcement and presidential campaigns to encourage them to be cautious about potential attacks from adversaries,” Meta said.

Google’s Threat Intelligence said in a report this month that the same Iranian group, which has ties to the country’s Revolutionary Guard, has attempted to hack the personal email accounts of about a dozen people linked to Biden and Trump since May.

The report came days after Microsoft published research suggesting Iran was involved in the 2024 presidential election.

Hackers posed as support agents

WhatsApp accounts linked to the hacking group sent messages posing as tech support for AOL, Google, Yahoo or Microsoft, Meta said.

The company’s security teams blocked a “small group” of WhatsApp accounts posing as support agents for tech companies.

“This malicious activity originated in Iran and targeted individuals in Israel, Palestine, Iran, the United States, and the United Kingdom,” said Meta, which owns WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.

Earlier this week, the FBI said an Iran-linked hack of the Trump campaign and an attempted break-in of the Biden-Harris campaign were part of a larger Iranian effort to interfere in the US presidential election.

dvv/rc (AFP, AP, dpa)