US elections ‘already being targeted by cyberattacks’ null
The US presidential elections are already facing widespread cyberattacks from malicious hacker groups, reports have claimed.
With November’s election day fast approaching, the battle between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is heating up, with the two parties already well into the campaigning process.
However the election faces the threat of disruption from multiple cyber threats, including rogue nation state-sponsored attacks, that threaten to derail the process, experts have warned.
US election attacks
The warning comes from security experts at Microsoft, which has been monitoring the situation following widespread reports that the previous election in 2016 was affected by outside influences.
It has warned that hacker groups from Russia, China and Iran are already active in trying to disrupt this year’s election, in many cases using the same methods as before.
This includes Chinese group Zirconium, which Microsoft says has attacked high-profile individuals associated with the election, including people associated with the Joe Biden for President campaign and prominent leaders in the international affairs community.
Elsewhere, Microsoft also highlighted the Strontium group, operating from Russia, has already attacked more than 200 organizations including political campaigns, advocacy groups, parties and political consultants, and the Iranian collective Phosphorus, which has continued to attack the personal accounts of people associated with the Donald J. Trump for President campaign.
Microsoft says that “the majority” of these attacks were detected and stopped by security tools built into its products, and that it has directly notified those who were targeted or compromised so they can take action.
“In recent weeks, Microsoft has detected cyberattacks targeting people and organizations involved in the upcoming presidential election, including unsuccessful attacks on people associated with both the Trump and Biden campaigns,” Microsoft wrote.
“We have and will continue to defend our democracy against these attacks through notifications of such activity to impacted customers, security features in our products and services, and legal and technical disruptions.”
“We disclose attacks like these because we believe it’s important the world knows about threats to democratic processes. It is critical that everyone involved in democratic processes around the world, both directly or indirectly, be aware of these threats and take steps to protect themselves in both their personal and professional capacities.”
The US presidential elections are already facing widespread cyberattacks from malicious hacker groups, reports have claimed. With November’s election day fast approaching, the battle between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is heating up, with the two parties already well into the campaigning process. However the election faces the threat of…
Recent Posts
- Blink and you missed it: Google has a new pair of prototype AR glasses
- No thanks Google, I don’t want an AI yoga bestie
- The US moves to stop buying uranium from Russia and start producing it at home
- MacOS devices are being targeted with PyPI backdoor to sneak into corporate networks
- Gemini will be accessible in the side panel on Google apps like Gmail and Docs
Archives
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- December 2011