7,000 phony accounts from iran. some of those accounts impersonated u.s. political candidates. while as of now iranian operations seem to lack the complexity of russia's interference, researchers are saying there are clear signs of shifting tactics. here's the kicker. what's known may be only small parts of much larger operations that remain currently undetected. joining me now on this is one of the co-authors of that report, tony romm, senior tech policy reporter. he's also an msnbc technology contributor. tony, thanks so much for joining us on this. very much appreciate it. drilling this down to specifics here. you report that cybersecurity company fire eye alleged that u.s. news sites may have been tricked into publishing letters to the editor penned by iranian operatives. it also, quote, catalogs fictitious twitter personas used by iranians that included a harvard university student, a michigan bodybuilder, and an