Iran is accelerating cyber activity that appears aimed at influencing US elections, Microsoft says

NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Iran is accelerating online activity that appears intended to influence the US electionsin one case targeting a presidential campaign with an email phishing attack, Microsoft said Friday.

Iranian actors have also spent recent months creating fake news sites and posing as activists, laying the groundwork for fomenting division and potentially influence American voters this fall, especially in swing states, the tech giant found.

Findings from Microsoft’s latest threat intelligence report show how Iran, which has been active in the recent US elections, is evolving its tactics for another election that will likely have global implications. The report goes a step further than anything US intelligence officials have released, giving specific examples of Iranian groups and the actions they have taken so far. Iran’s United Nations mission has denied plans to interfere or launch cyberattacks in the US presidential election.

The report does not specify Iran’s intentions beyond sowing chaos in the United States, although U.S. officials have previously suggested that Iran is particularly opposed to former President Donald Trump. US officials have also expressed alarm over Tehran’s efforts to seek retaliation for a 2020 attack on an Iranian general which was ordered by Trump. This week, the Justice Department revealed criminal charges against a Pakistani man with ties to Iran who allegedly had Planned assassination plots targeting several employeespotentially including Trump.

The report also reveals how Russia and China are exploiting US political polarization to promote their own divisive messages in a key election year.

Microsoft’s report identified four examples of recent Iranian activity that the company expects to increase as the November elections approach.

First, a group linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in June targeted a senior U.S. presidential campaign official with a phishing email, a form of cyber attack often used to collect sensitive information, according to the report. , which did not identify which campaign was targeted. . The group concealed the origins of the email by sending it from the hacked email account of a former senior adviser, Microsoft said.

Days later, the Iranian group attempted to log into an account belonging to a former presidential candidate, but was unsuccessful, according to the Microsoft report. The company notified the targets.

In another example, an Iranian group has created websites that present themselves as U.S.-based news sites, targeting voters on opposite sides of the political spectrum, the report states.

A fake news website that caters to a left-leaning audience insults Trump by calling him “crazy” and suggests he uses drugs, the report said. Another site aimed at attracting Republican readers focuses on LGBTQ issues and gender-affirming surgeries.

A third example cited by Microsoft found that Iranian groups are posing as US activists, potentially laying the groundwork for influence operations closer to the election.

Finally, another Iranian group compromised an account belonging to a government official in a swing state in May, the report states. It was unclear whether the cyberattack was related to election interference efforts.

The Iranian UN mission emailed the Associated Press a statement: “Iran has been the victim of numerous offensive cyber operations targeting its infrastructure, public service centers and industries. Iran’s cyber capabilities are defensive and proportionate to the threats it faces. Iran has no intention or plans to launch cyber attacks. The US presidential election is an internal matter in which Iran does not interfere.”

The Microsoft report states that as Iran increases its cyber influence, actors linked to Russia have also directed their influence campaigns to focus on the US elections, while actors linked to the Chinese Communist Party have taken advantage of the protests. pro-Palestinian college students and other current events. in the US to try to increase political tensions in the US.

Microsoft said it continues to monitor how foreign enemies are doing using generative AI technology. Increasingly cheap and easily accessible tools can generate fake, realistic images, photos and videos in seconds, sparking concern among some experts that they will be used as weapons to deceive voters this election cycle.

While many countries have experimented with AI in their influence operations, the company said, these efforts have not had much impact so far. The report states that, as a result, some actors “have returned to techniques that have proven effective in the past – simple digital manipulations, mischaracterization of content and the use of credible labels or logos on false information”.

Microsoft’s report is in line with recent warnings from US intelligence officials, who say that US adversaries appear determined to seed the Internet with false and incendiary claims ahead of the November vote.

Senior intelligence officials said last month that Russia continues to pose the biggest threat when it comes to election disinformation, although there are indications that Iran is expanding its efforts and China is proceeding with caution when it is 2024.

Iran’s efforts appear aimed at undermining candidates considered most likely to increase tension with Tehran, the employees said. That’s a description that fits Trump, whose administration ended a nuclear deal with Iranreimposed sanctions and ordered the assassination of top Iranian general.

The influence efforts also coincide with a period of high tensions between Iran and Israel, whose armed forces the U.S. strongly supports.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said last month that the Iranian government secretly supported American protests about Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Iran-linked groups posed as activists online, emboldened protests and provided financial support to some protest groups, Haines said.

America’s enemies, including Iran, have a long history of trying to influence US elections. In 2020, groups linked to Iran sent emails to Democratic voters in an apparent effort to influence their votes, intelligence officials said.

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Associated Press writers David Klepper and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

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