Washington: Iran -related hackers have threatened to disclose more emails stolen from President Donald Trump’s circle, after distributing a lot of media before the 2024 US elections.
In online conversations with Reuters On Sunday and Monday, the pirates – using the pseudonym “Robert” – said they had about 100 email gigabytes drawn from accounts belonging to the chief of staff of the White House Susie Wiles, the lawyer for Trump Lindsey Halligan, the advisor Trump Roger Stone and the adult film actress became the critic of Trump Daniels.
Robert mentioned that they could sell the data but have offered no clear detail on their plans. The group has not revealed the content of the emails.
US prosecutor Pam Bondi described the hacking “unreasonable cyber attack”.
The White House and the FBI said that FBI director Kash Patel said: “Anyone associated with all kinds of national security violation will be fully the subject of an investigation and prosecution to the extent of the law.”
Halligan, Stone, a representative of Daniels, and the American Cisa Cyberdefency Agency did not respond to requests for comments. Iran’s mission to the United Nations has not responded either. Tehran has already denied participation in cyberspionage.
The pirate group Robert emerged in the last months of the 2024 presidential campaign, saying that he had access to email accounts of several Trump allies, including Wiles.
They then distributed some of the emails to journalists.
Reuters had previously authenticated part of the content disclosed, including an email seeming to show a financial agreement between Trump and the lawyers of the former presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, now Trump Secretary of Health.
The other leaks included internal campaign messages on republican candidates and the details of legal settlement discussions with Daniels.
Although leaks received some media attention last year, they did not significantly affect the outcome of the presidential race, which Trump won.
In September 2024, the United States Ministry of Justice allegedly allegedly allegedly the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were behind Robert’s hacking operation. The pirates refused to comment on the allegation.
After Trump’s victory, Robert said Reuters No more leaks had been planned. In May, the pirates said: “I am retired, guy”. However, they resumed activity after the 12-day conflict of this month between Israel and Iran, which ended with American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
In new messages this week, Robert said they were preparing to sell stolen emails and wanted Reuters To “spread this question”.
Frederick Kagan, a researcher of the American Enterprise Institute and expert in Iranian cyber-activity, said that Iranian intelligence services could now try to retaliate without risking a new military escalation.
“An explanation by default is that everyone has received the order to use all the asymmetrical tools they have, without causing Israeli or American military action,” he said. “The leakage of a bunch of emails is unlikely to do so.”
Despite the concerns that Iran could launch serious cyber attacks, its hackers remained largely silent during the recent conflict. However, American cyber-responsible warned on Monday that Tehran could still target American companies and key infrastructure.
