The Iranian hacker group, accused of targeting both presidential campaigns in the United States, also attempted to hack multiple government sites in Utah. The group tried to breach assets including geological archive data, oil and gas resources, and other geographical information related to Utah. The Utah Department of Public Safety Statewide Information and Analysis Center issued a notice about the hacking attempts, which occurred from March 2023 to March 2024 but were unsuccessful.
Cybersecurity experts believe that the Iranian hacker group, allegedly working for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, focuses on intelligence collection. The group has been tracked by American cybersecurity company CrowdStrike since 2013. The Trump campaign recently reported being hacked as part of an Iranian election interference effort. Google and Microsoft have also disrupted hacking attempts by the Revolutionary Guard group targeting both political campaigns.
While Iran’s mission to the United Nations has denied engaging in election interference, it is known that countries with significant cyber capabilities, such as Iran, deploy hackers to gather intelligence. The Iranian hacker group frequently targets political figures and industries related to natural resources, such as oil and gas. The hacking attempts on Utah were discovered in February after a federal agency tip-off, with the Utah Geological Survey being one of the organizations targeted.
The hacking attempts in Utah show the wide-ranging nature of Iran’s cyberespionage operations and its focus on targeting sources with information on natural resources. The notice obtained by NBC News was marked unclassified but “For Official Use Only,” and was acquired through an open records request from Property of the People, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transparency in U.S. national security.
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