CNN —
In a report released Wednesday, Microsoft said Iranian government-linked hackers are targeting election-related attacks in several U.S. battleground states to discover vulnerabilities that could be used to influence the presidential election. He said he had researched and researched the website.
Officials from multiple federal agencies are closely monitoring Iranian activities, a U.S. official told CNN.
The investigation into election-related websites was conducted in April, but was only recently discovered by Microsoft analysts. Microsoft said hackers also “conducted reconnaissance of major U.S. media outlets” in May.
U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Iran could create discord during the 2024 election by targeting former President Donald Trump’s campaign and encouraging protests against U.S. policy toward Israel. It is assessed that he was trying to provoke.
Microsoft analysts expect the Iranian hacker group to become “more active as the election approaches, given the group’s tempo of activity and history of election interference,” the company said in a report Wednesday. said.
This is the latest sign of efforts by multiple Iranian, Russian, and Chinese groups to influence or monitor the U.S. election in the final stages of the presidential campaign.
A source familiar with the investigation told CNN there is no evidence that the Iranians’ reconnaissance and probing, usually searching for vulnerabilities in websites, escalated to attempted hacking of those websites. . This activity does not threaten the integrity of the vote, which has multiple safeguards and checks in place.
But the worry of U.S. officials and private analysts is that this could be another effort by foreign aid to exacerbate concerns in Americans’ minds about voting. For example, hackers may leak publicly available voter registration data to trick people into believing they have access to more sensitive election systems.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations denied the allegations in a statement.
“Already lacking any credibility or legitimacy, such claims are fundamentally baseless and completely unacceptable. The Islamic Republic of Iran is not involved in U.S. internal conflicts or election disputes.” said. “If baseless claims like this continue, its credibility will only be eroded.”
The news comes as U.S. intelligence agencies release an assessment accusing Russian operatives of creating and spreading viral audio content on X that slanders Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz and is amplified by right-wing figures. It was announced the next day. U.S. intelligence officials are also concerned that Russia and Iran could try to use disinformation to incite violence in the days and weeks between Election Day and vote certification.
Microsoft said one of the Russian groups pivoted from Telegram to X in September, where a manipulated video attacking Harris received even more attention. One such video used AI to falsely portray Harris as downplaying one of President Trump’s assassination attempts and received tens of thousands of views on X, according to the report. It is said that he did.
Microsoft analysts call the hacker group that was probing election-related websites Cotton Sandstorm and believe it is directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Microsoft said the hackers have not yet launched an influence operation aimed at the 2024 election, but their history is a cause for concern for U.S. authorities.
The same Iranian group posed as the far-right Proud Boys group and attempted to intimidate voters in the 2020 election. In 2020, Iranian hackers probed election-related websites in multiple states and, in some cases, accessed voter registration data in an effort to influence or undermine the U.S. presidential election.
This summer, another group backed by the Revolutionary Guards hacked documents held by President Trump’s campaign and leaked them to the media.
Although China has not launched a concerted effort to influence the presidential election, it has conducted covert social media campaigns targeting at least 10 congressional, state and local races, according to U.S. intelligence agencies.
A new Microsoft report shows evidence that Chinese operatives are actively trying to smear Senate and House candidates with posts about X.
Chris Krebs, who served as head of the Federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency during the 2020 election, said, “Even if the efforts in 2020 were as unfortunate and ineffective as they were, we still hope to see more results from Iran.” I agree with the assessment that it should be done,” he told CNN. .
“Whether it’s Iranian, Russian or Chinese, we continue to see information operations being more of a nuisance than a game changer,” Krebs said. “But they’re cheap, scalable, and not a big deal in terms of results.”
Krebs said American voters should “anticipate a tumultuous information environment in the coming months and avoid getting caught up in the chaos.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
