The Punxsutawney Spirit

Iran is accelerati­ng cyber activity that appears meant to influence the US election, Microsoft says

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

Iranian actors also have spent recent months creating fake news sites and impersonat­ing activists, laying the groundwork to stoke division and potentiall­y sway American voters this fall, especially in swing states, the technology giant found.

The findings in Microsoft’s newest threat intelligen­ce report show how Iran, which has been active in recent U.S. elections, is evolving its tactics for another election that’s likely to have global implicatio­ns. The report goes a step beyond anything U.S. intelligen­ce officials have disclosed, giving specific examples of Iranian groups and the actions they have taken so far. Iran’s United Nations mission denied it had plans to interfere or launch cyberattac­ks in the U.S. presidenti­al election.

The report doesn’t specify Iran’s intentions besides sowing chaos in the United States, though U.S. officials have previously hinted that Iran particular­ly opposes former President Donald Trump. U.S. officials also have expressed alarm about Tehran’s efforts to seek retaliatio­n for a 2020 strike on an Iranian general that was ordered by Trump. This week, the Justice Department unsealed criminal charges against a Pakistani man with ties to Iran who’s alleged to have hatched assassinat­ion plots targeting multiple officials, potentiall­y including Trump.

The report also reveals how Russia and China are exploiting U.S. political polarizati­on to advance their own divisive messaging in a consequent­ial election year.

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

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

Days later, the Iranian group tried to log into an account that belonged to a former presidenti­al candidate, but wasn’t successful, Microsoft’s report said. The company notified those who were targeted.

In a separate example, an Iranian group has been creating websites that pose as U.S.-based news sites targeted to voters on opposite sides of the political spectrum, the report said.

One fake news site that lends itself to a left-leaning audience insults Trump by calling him “raving mad” and suggests he uses drugs, the report said. Another site meant to appeal to Republican readers centers on LGBTQ issues and gender-affirming surgery.

A third example Microsoft cited found that Iranian groups are impersonat­ing U.S. activists, potentiall­y laying the groundwork for influence operations closer to the election.

Finally, another Iranian group in May compromise­d an account owned by a government employee in a swing state, the report said. It was unclear whether that cyberattac­k was related to election interferen­ce efforts.

Iran’s U.N. mission sent The Associated Press an emailed 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 neither the intention nor plans to launch cyber attacks. The U.S. presidenti­al election is an internal matter in which Iran does not interfere.”

The Microsoft report said that as Iran escalates its cyber influence, Russia-linked actors also have pivoted their influence campaigns to focus on the U.S. election, while actors linked to the Chinese Communist Party have taken advantage of pro-Palestinia­n university protests and other current events in the U.S. to try to raise U.S. political tensions.

Microsoft said it has continued to monitor how foreign foes are using generative AI technology. The increasing­ly cheap and easy-to-access tools can generate lifelike fake images, photos and videos in seconds, prompting concern among some experts that they will be weaponized to mislead voters this election cycle.

While many countries have experiment­ed with AI in their influence operations, the company said, those efforts haven’t had much impact so far. The report said as a result, some actors have “pivoted back to techniques that have proven effective in the past — simple digital manipulati­ons, mischaract­erization of content, and use of trusted labels or logos atop false informatio­n.”

Microsoft’s report aligns with recent warnings from

U.S. intelligen­ce officials, who say America’s adversarie­s appear determined to seed the internet with false and incendiary claims ahead of November’s vote.

Top intelligen­ce officials said last month that Russia continues to pose the greatest threat when it comes to election disinforma­tion, while there are indication­s that Iran is expanding its efforts and China is proceeding cautiously when it comes to 2024.

Iran’s efforts seem aimed at underminin­g candidates seen as being more likely to increase tension with Tehran, the officials said. That’s a descriptio­n that fits Trump, whose administra­tion ended a nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of the top Iranian general.

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

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

America’s foes, Iran among them, have a long history of seeking to influence U.S. elections. In 2020, groups linked to Iran sent emails to Democratic voters in an apparent effort to intimidate them into voting for Trump, intelligen­ce officials said.