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Iranian cyber operators are laying the groundwork for divisive problems in the November US presidential election, according to a report from Microsoft’s risk intelligence unit released Friday.
In June, a handful of Iran-backed hacking teams accelerated their online efforts to create divisions among American voters, running campaigns on internet sites and social media aimed at reducing electoral legitimacy and voter turnout while seeking to undermine acceptance as true in the election. authorities.
“Looking ahead, we expect Iranian actors to cyberattack establishments and applicants, while stepping up their efforts to magnify existing divisive issues in the United States, such as racial tensions, economic disparities, and gender-related issues,” Microsoft said.
An Iranian network, dubbed by the company Storm-2035, created four fake websites posing as genuine media outlets, disseminating debatable content aimed at liberal and conservative audiences. One of them changed its content to election issues after starting content focused on the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023. The network uses generative artificial intelligence equipment to plagiarize content from genuinely American news, according to a study.
In May, an organization linked to the IRGC compromised a user account in a county government founded in an undecided state, whose name Microsoft did not mention.
“Although it is unclear if this is related, it should be noted that the targeted county has been the subject of a race-related controversy that has been in the national news this year,” the report said. A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on the county. in question.
A third entity attempted to access an account belonging to a former presidential candidate, whom the company did not name. The infiltration failure occurred “days before the phishing of an active presidential crusade and months before the election,” suggesting the attempt could simply be related to the election, according to Microsoft.
“We aggregate this type of data so that voters, government institutions, candidates, parties and others can be informed about influence campaigns and how they oppose the risks,” said Clint Watts, director of the center. business risk analysis.
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