Foreign hackers hitting Democrats and Republicans voters with dirty election tricks
Cybersecurity professionals are becoming increasingly crucial this election season, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with speechwriters and social media strategists. The risk of cyber disruptions was highlighted recently when the Trump campaign announced it had been breached by "foreign sources hostile to the United States," following the release of internal campaign documents to at least two news outlets.
Trump’s team pointed to a recent report from Microsoft indicating that hackers affiliated with the Iranian government had gained access to internal documents from an unnamed presidential campaign through phishing techniques. Trump asserted that only publicly available information had been compromised. The FBI is currently investigating the alleged hacking attributed to Iran, as well as prior attempts to infiltrate the Biden–Harris campaign and target Trump advisor Roger Stone, according to the Washington Post.
Experts view the hacking incident involving the Trump campaign as a concerning echo of the Russian interference that targeted Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016, raising fears that other foreign hackers may soon engage in similar activities.
The threat landscape extends beyond hacking. A recent intelligence report has revealed that China, Russia, and Iran are actively conducting online influence operations in the United States. Last week, Microsoft elaborated on how these nations are attempting to sway voter opinions, erode trust in the electoral process, and spread misinformation.
One particularly insidious tactic employed by Iran involved creating fake news websites aimed at Americans from all points of the political spectrum; one such site derisively referred to Trump as the “opioid-pilled elephant in the MAGA china shop,” as detailed by Microsoft.
It is essential to remain vigilant: Chris Krebs, the former director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency under Trump, described this situation as “a multi-front gray zone assault on the American mind.”