Microsoft: Iran sought to interfere in the US election.
In a new cybersecurity intelligence report, Microsoft warned that hackers and fake news sites allegedly linked to Iran may be plotting something in the United States.
According to RT, Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) published a 9-page report on August 9th, claiming to have discovered traces of influence campaigns targeting Americans, primarily linked to Iran but also involving China and Russia.
MTAC stated: “Iranian actors have recently laid the groundwork for influence campaigns targeting the American public and may seek to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election.”
An Iranian-backed network, codenamed Storm-2035, is believed to operate four fake news websites, each targeting a different segment of American voters. One of these websites, Savannah Time, focuses on Republican politics and specializes in LGBT and transgender issues.
Another site, Nio Thinker, targets Democrats and publishes "satirical, lengthy" articles attacking Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
MTAC identified the third site in the group as EvenPolitics, while the fourth site remains unidentified. The company claims the websites used AI-powered services to plagiarize “at least some of their content from U.S. publications.”
In addition to fake news websites, MTAC claims to have identified two Iranian hacking groups linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). One group, known as Mint Sandstorm, attempted to attack a presidential campaign in June by sending “a sophisticated phishing email to a senior campaign official from a compromised email account belonging to a former senior adviser.”
MTAC said Mint Sandstorm “also attempted, but was unsuccessful, to log into an account belonging to a former presidential candidate” around June 13. While the group is often involved in espionage, according to MTAC, these actions “suggest” that their goals may be related to the election.
Another group “with assessed links” to the IRGC, known as Peach Sandstorm or APT-33, successfully infiltrated the accounts of a county government “in a decision state” where “a racially charged controversy has made national news this year.”
According to RT, the US government and major tech companies have claimed since 2016 that Russia and other foreign governments have carried out cyberattacks and “influence campaigns” aimed at undermining US elections. The only exception was the 2020 election, when both government agencies and private companies claimed it was “the most secure in US history.”