Following multiple successful Iranian hacks and two assassination attempts targeting former President Donald Trump, his presidential campaign team has adopted encrypted mobile devices and secure laptops to protect staff.
Trump’s team recently purchased these devices from Green Hills Software, a Santa Barbara, California-based firm known for its security-focused operating system, which several U.S. agencies already use.
Dan O’Dowd, CEO of Green Hills Software, told Reuters that the company reached out to the Trump campaign through mutual connections to provide the technology. “Securing the integrity of the democratic process is paramount,” O’Dowd stated in a press release on October 1. Despite this announcement, the news has received little media attention.
A Trump campaign spokesperson declined to comment. A campaign insider, preferring anonymity, acknowledged significant security upgrades to their hardware, though they were uncertain about the vendor’s details.
In contrast, Morgan Finkelstein, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, noted, “We have robust cybersecurity measures in place, and our personnel are trained to guard against potentially malicious content.”
The decision to enhance the security of Trump campaign devices arose after months of Iranian cyber espionage attacks that accessed internal communications and documents. The upgrades also addressed concerns that hackers or spies might use intercepted information to target campaign staff.
In an interview, O’Dowd explained that a core group of campaign staffers already uses these more secure devices, which offer heightened resistance to remote cyberattacks.
The Iranian hacking group APT42, responsible for the earlier breaches this summer, is notorious for using advanced mobile phone malware. This malware can record conversations and remotely activate cameras. APT42 is also known for spying on individuals whom Iranian intelligence agents later physically threaten, based on Reuters reports about attacks on Iranian dissidents.
