The Iran-backed Hacking Group, Phosphorus, Targeted at least One Campaign in the Race for 2020 U.S. Presidency

The hacking group, most commonly known as Phosphorus, also goes by the name of APT35, Charming Kitten and Ajax, in its latest attempt tried to intrude the 2020 U.S. Presidential campaign, according to a blog post by Microsoft’s Tom Burt, the company’s corporate vice president.

The hacking group is believed to have close ties with the Iranian military and has been actively involved in cyberattacks since 2013.

The group has also made close to 2,700 attempts between the months of August and September to target specific email accounts, out of which 241 were attacked. Microsoft further reiterated on this and has claimed that only four email accounts were ultimately compromised, further stating that these did not belong to any presidential campaign members or government officials.

According to FireEye, the group, though is dubbed as being technically unsophisticated, has been involved in infiltrating online communities, including faking associations with prominent news casting agencies.

The hacking group phosphorus is also believed to have ties with Monica Witt, who was accused of spying for Iran and was charged with conspiracy. Witt defected to Iran in 2013 and was allegedly the one responsible to deliver intelligence, after which the group was able to coordinate a network of sites involved in spear phishing campaigns, which Microsoft was also able to seize control of some, earlier this year.