A U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) spokesperson said "at this time, there is no confirmation that this was the action of Iranian state-sponsored actors."

Iran has been increasing its cyber capabilities but is not in the same league as China or Russia — which has proven most adept at sabotaging critical infrastructure, witnessed in attacks on Ukraine’s power grid and elections, experts agree.

Overall, the hackers attempted to penetrate 241 accounts — four successfully — though none of those penetrated was associated with presidential campaigns or current or past U.S. officials, Microsoft said.