Microsoft says the country’s cyber activity may target the US election
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Iran is accelerating cyber activity that appears to be aimed at influencing the US election, at one point targeting the presidential campaign with email phishing attacks, Microsoft said Friday.
Iranian actors have also spent recent months creating fake news sites and posing as activists, laying the groundwork for a divisive and potentially swaying American voter this fall, especially in developing states, the tech giant found.
The findings of Microsoft’s alarming new intelligence report show how Iran, which was involved in the recent US election, is changing tactics for another election that could have an impact on the world. The report goes beyond anything US intelligence officials have disclosed, providing specific examples of Iranian groups and the actions they have taken so far. The United Nations has denied that Iran has plans to disrupt or launch a cyber attack on the US presidential election.
The report does not clarify Iran’s intentions other than sowing chaos in the United States, although American officials have indicated that Iran is strongly opposed to former President Donald Trump. US officials have also expressed concern over Tehran’s efforts to seek revenge for a 2020 strike on an Iranian general ordered by Trump. This week, the Justice Department filed criminal charges against a Pakistani man with ties to Iran who allegedly masterminded an assassination plot targeting several officials, possibly including Trump.
The report also reveals how Russia and China are exploiting the political divide in the US to promote their own divisive messages in the next election year.
The Microsoft report identified four examples of recent activity in Iran that the company expects to increase as the November elections approach.
First, a group linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in June targeted a top US presidential campaign official with a phishing email, a type of cyberattack often used to collect sensitive information, according to the report, which did not identify the target campaign. . The group hid the origin of the email by sending it from the hacked email account of a former senior adviser, Microsoft said.
Days later, an Iranian group tried to access an account that belonged to the former president, but was unsuccessful, the Microsoft report said. The company notified those who were targeted.
In another example, an Iranian group was creating websites posing as US-based news sites aimed at voters on different political sides, the report said.
A fake news site that lends itself to a left-leaning audience insults Trump by calling him “crazy” and suggesting he uses drugs, a report says. Another site intended to appeal to Republican student centers on LGBTQ issues and gender affirming surgeries.
A third example Microsoft cited found that Iranian groups were posing as US activists, possibly laying the groundwork for influence operations near the election.
Finally, another Iranian group in May compromised the account of a government employee in a volatile region, the report said. It was not clear whether the cyber attack was related to attempts to disrupt the election.
The UN’s Iran mission sent the Associated Press an emailed statement: “Iran has been the victim of multiple offensive cyber attacks targeting its infrastructure, public service facilities and industries. Iran’s cyber capabilities are defensive and relevant to the threats it faces. Iran does not intend or plan to launch a cyber attack. The US presidential election is an internal matter in which Iran does not interfere.”
The Microsoft report said that as Iran increases its cyber influence, Russian-linked actors have also used their campaigns to focus on the US election, while actors linked to the Chinese Communist Party have taken advantage of pro-Palestinian university protests and other current events. in the US to try to increase tensions in US politics.
Microsoft said it continued to monitor how foreign adversaries use artificial intelligence technology. The increasingly cheap and easy-to-access tools can produce fake images, life-like photos and videos in seconds, prompting some experts to worry that they will be equipped to mislead voters this election cycle.
While many countries have experimented with AI in their impact operations, the company said, those efforts have not had much impact so far. The report said that as a result, some actors “have reverted to techniques that have proven effective in the past – simple digital manipulation, poor content, and the use of credible labels or logos with false information.”
Microsoft’s report echoes recent warnings from US intelligence officials, who say America’s adversaries appear intent on flooding the Internet with false and disingenuous claims ahead of the November vote.
Senior intelligence officials said last month that Russia continues to pose a major threat when it comes to election disinformation, while there are indications that Iran is stepping up its efforts and China remains cautious in the run-up to 2024.
Iran’s efforts appear to be aimed at undermining those candidates who are likely to increase tensions with Tehran, officials said. That’s a description that fits Trump, whose administration ended the nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the assassination of an Iranian general.
The lobbying efforts also coincide with a time of heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, whose military the US heavily supports.
The Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, said last month that the Iranian government has secretly supported American protests about Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. Iran-linked groups have become online activists, encouraging protests and providing funding to other protest groups, Haines said.
America’s enemies, Iran among them, have a long history of seeking to influence US elections. In 2020, Iran-linked groups sent emails to Democratic voters in an apparent attempt to intimidate them into voting for Trump, intelligence officials said.
Associated Press writers David Klepper and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
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-Ali Swenson, The Associated Press
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