In a startling revelation, federal law enforcement officials disclosed on Wednesday that Iranian hackers had conducted cyber attacks on Joe Biden's presidential campaign by sending unsolicited emails containing stolen information from Donald Trump's campaign. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, along with the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, released a joint statement confirming the incident, which took place in late June and early July.

According to the statement, the Iranian malicious cyber actors targeted individuals associated with President Biden's campaign, sharing excerpts from non-public material taken from former President Trump's campaign as text in the emails. A spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign confirmed that a few individuals were targeted on their personal emails. The Harris campaign has been cooperating with law enforcement authorities since becoming aware of the foreign influence operation.

The joint statement strongly condemned any efforts by foreign actors to interfere in U.S. elections, denouncing the Iranian hackers' attempts to undermine confidence in the electoral process. It also revealed that the Iranian government-backed hackers had previously stolen internal Trump campaign documents and shared them with various news organizations. Additionally, the statement mentioned that the hackers are persistently seeking to send information to U.S. media outlets.

This latest cyber attack is part of a series of attempts by the Iranian government to sow discord and manipulate the American democratic system. It should be noted that the Iranian hackers also made an unsuccessful attempt to hack the Biden-Harris campaign, as previously reported by law enforcement officials.

In July, Politico reported receiving emails containing internal communications from a senior Trump campaign official and a research dossier about Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance. The New York Times and The Washington Post later confirmed that they too had received a similar cache of information, including a substantial 271-page document on Vance, labeled "privileged & confidential."

Interestingly, the hacking operation involved breaching the email account of Roger Stone, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, to target campaign staff. It is believed that the hackers, suspected to be working for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, gained access to Stone's account and attempted to break into the account of a senior Trump campaign official, as part of their ongoing efforts to infiltrate campaign networks.

The gravity of this situation highlights the increasing sophistication of cyber threats and the need for robust security measures to safeguard the integrity of election processes. Authorities are working diligently to counter such attacks and ensure the protection of democratic systems from foreign interference.