Meta has blocked an Iranian hacking network posing as tech support from Microsoft and Google

Meta said it discovered the network of hackers, who posed as tech support agents for companies such as Microsoft and Google, after people who received the suspicious WhatsApp messages reported them. Meta’s investigators linked the activity to the same network accused of the hacking incident reported by the Trump campaign.

The FBI said this week that an Iranian breach of the Trump campaign and an attempted breach of the Biden-Harris campaign were part of a broader Iranian effort to interfere with the US presidential election.

A statement on Friday from Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, said hackers tried to target the WhatsApp account of people in the Middle East, the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as political and diplomatic officials — including unidentified officials. associated with the Trump and Biden administrations. A “small group” of accounts were blocked by Meta, the company said.

“We have not seen evidence that the targeted WhatsApp accounts have been compromised, but out of an abundance of caution, we are sharing our findings publicly, in addition to sharing information with law enforcement and our industry colleagues,” Meta said in a statement.

U.S. intelligence officials say Iran’s increasingly aggressive use of cyberattacks and disinformation has several motives: to confuse and polarize voters in an effort to undermine confidence in U.S. democracy, erode support for Israel and to oppose candidates he believes will increase tension between Washington and Iran.

Iran has vowed revenge against Trump, whose administration struck a nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

In July, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the Iranian government had provided covert support to American protests against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Iran-linked groups have posed as activists online, encouraged campus protests and provided financial support to protest groups, Haines said.

Messages left with the Trump and Harris campaigns were not immediately returned Friday.