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US elections targeted by Iranian hackers, Microsoft reacts

2024-10-24 07:52:13Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

US elections targeted by Iranian hackers, Microsoft reacts

An Iranian hacker group is actively monitoring websites linked to the November election and US media.

The hackers' activities suggest they are preparing for more "direct influence operations," according to a Microsoft blog post published Wednesday.

The hackers, whom Microsoft has nicknamed "Cotton Sandstorm", are linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to the US company, they have undertaken limited cyber reconnaissance operations targeting multiple US election-related websites of several battleground states.

In May, hackers also scanned an unidentified US media outlet to research its vulnerabilities.

Democratic nominee for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris, is running against Republican rival Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 presidential election, which polls suggest is an extremely close race.

"Cotton Sandstorm" will increase its activity as the elections approach, taking into account the pace of the group's actions and the history of interference in the elections, according to Microsoft research. This is particularly worrying given the group's past efforts, the US firm says.

A spokesman for the Iranian mission to the United Nations said: “Such accusations are completely baseless and completely unacceptable. "Iran has no motive and no intention to interfere in the American elections."

In 2020, the Cotton Sandstorm group undertook a cyber operation to influence the run-up to that year's presidential election, according to US officials.

Posing as "Proud Boys," a far-right organization, the hackers sent Florida residents thousands of emails, threatening them to vote for candidate Trump.

The group also released a video on social media, claiming to be from activist hackers, showing them probing an election system. While this Iranian effort did not affect individual voting systems, the intent was to sow chaos, confusion and suspicion, U.S. officials said at the time.

After the 2020 election, the Cotton Sandstorm hacker group also launched another operation against the United States, inciting violence against election officials who had denied allegations of large-scale election fraud, Microsoft said.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which is coordinating federal efforts to protect elections from foreign influence, referred to a recent statement saying: “Foreign actors, particularly Russia, Iran and China, remain determined to to divide the American people and to undermine their faith in the democratic system in the country"./ VOA


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