Iranian hackers search through the US election pages for weak points

Iranian hackers supported by the state have researched and examined election websites in several US states that are considered shaky constituencies. This may have been done to discover weaknesses that could be used to influence the presidential elections, according to a report by Microsoft Wednesday was published.

US authorities observe Iranian activities

civil servants of several federal authorities observe Iran's activities exactly, a US official told CNN. The examinations of the election websites took place in April, but were recently discovered by Microsoft analysts. In addition, the hackers also carried out "educational measures for large US media companies" in May, according to Microsoft.

Iranian commitment in the 2024

elections

Secret services have found that Iran tried to fuel the discord during the 2024 elections, partly through hacking activities against the campaign of former President Donald Trump and partly by promoting protests against US policy towards Israel.

Microsoft analysts expect the Iranian hacker group to strengthen its activities in the period before the election, due to the operational pace of the group and its history of the electoral influence. This is another sign of the efforts of several Iranian, Russian and Chinese groups to influence or monitor the US elections in the decisive phase of the presidential election campaign.

concern about the integrity of the elections

There is no evidence that the research and testing of the websites - which typically include the search for weak points - have led to try to hack these websites. Sources that are familiar with the investigation have informed CNN that these activities do not endanger the integrity of voting because there are numerous security precautions.

The main concern of the US officials and private analysts is that this could be another foreign attempt to strengthen fears in the minds of the Americans. For example, hackers could publish publicly accessible voter registration data to try to convince people that they have access to more sensitive electoral systems.

disinformation and violence in the run -up to the election

These messages come a day after US intelligence agencies have published an assessment that accuses Russian agents of creating and spreading viral audio content on X, which the democratic vice presidential candidates tim walz discredited and strengthened by right-wing extremities. US intelligence officers also have concerns that Russia and Iran could use disinformation to fuel violence in the days and weeks between the election day and the certification of the votes.

manipulated content on social media

A Russian group changed from Telegram to X in September, where their edited videos, which were directed against Harris, gained traction, says Microsoft. Such a video used AI to misrepresent Harris that Harris played one of the attempts to stop on Trump, and received tens of thousands from calls to X, reported the report.

Microsoft analysts describe the hacker group, which has examined election websites, as a "Cotton Sandstorm" and believe that it is led by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards. According to Microsoft, however, the hackers have not yet started the choice of 2024, which made US officials concerned.

previous activities and attempts to influence

The same Iranian group was in the 2020 elections as the right -wing extremist group Proud Boys to intimidate voters. In 2020, Iranian hackers also examined electoral websites in several countries and, in one case, accessed voter registration data, which was part of an attempt to influence and undermine the US presidential election.

Another group of Hackt documents supported by the IRGC of Trump's presidential campaign and forwarded them to the media in summer. China, on the other hand, has not undertaken a concerted attempt to influence the presidential elections, but has targeted at least 10 Bundestag elections, state or municipal elections with secret social media campaigns, according to US secret services.

expectations for the elections

The new report by Microsoft shows evidence that Chinese agents try to reduce candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives on x aggressively. Chris Krebs, former head of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency during the 2020 elections, said in a CNN interview and said: "I agree to the assessment that we should expect more from Iran, even if it may be planlessly and ineffective as your efforts in 2020."

cancer added: "We continue to see - whether it is the Iranians, Russians or Chinese - that information operations are more of a harassment than a gamuchanger. But they are inexpensive, scalable and the consequences are low." American voters should expect a turbulent information environment in the coming months and should not be carried away by the confusion.