The U.S.'s accelerated attribution of a foreign cyberattack against the campaign of former President Donald Trump to Iran has been noted to be part of the federal government's efforts to advance transparency about election security threats after downplaying such issues during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to The Associated Press.
"Transparency is one of the most powerful tools we have to counteract foreign malign influence operations intended to undermine our elections and democratic institutions," said the FBI, which issued a joint report regarding Iran's election meddling efforts alongside the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
On the other hand, such public notification of the Iranian election cyber threats was noted by an ODNI spokesperson to have been conducted after additional action was recommended by the intelligence community. "The Intelligence Community has been focused on collecting and analyzing intelligence regarding foreign malign influence activities, to include those of Iran, targeting U.S. elections. For this notification, the IC had relevant intelligence that prompted a nomination," said ODNI
