Microsoft said on Friday that Iran is accelerating online activities that appear to be aimed at influencing the U.S. election, including an email phishing attack targeting the presidential campaign.
The tech giant found that Iranian actors have also created fake news sites and impersonated activists in recent months, laying the groundwork to foment division and potentially sway U.S. voters this fall, especially in battleground states.
Findings from Microsoft’s latest threat intelligence report show how Iran, which was active in the recent U.S. election, is evolving its tactics in preparation for another election that could have global repercussions. The report goes further than anything U.S. intelligence officials have disclosed, giving specific examples of Iranian groups and the actions they have taken so far. Iran’s mission to the United Nations has denied that it plans to interfere in or launch a cyber attack on the U.S. presidential election.
The report did not specify Iran’s intentions beyond sowing chaos in the United States, although U.S. officials have previously suggested Iran was particularly opposed to former President Trump. U.S. officials have also expressed alarm that Tehran is seeking retaliation for a 2020 attack on Iranian generals ordered by Trump. This week, the Justice Department unveiled criminal charges against a Pakistani man with ties to Iran who it said was behind assassination plots against multiple officials, possibly including Trump.
The report also reveals how Russia and China exploited political polarization in the United States to promote their respective divisive messages in the ensuing election year.
Microsoft’s report cited four examples of recent Iranian activity that the company expects will increase as the November election approaches.
First, the report says a group linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards targeted a senior U.S. presidential campaign official in June via a phishing email, a form of cyberattack often used to gather sensitive information. But the report did not identify which campaign was targeted. Microsoft said the organization concealed the source of the email by sending it from the hacked email account of a former senior adviser.
Microsoft’s report said that days later, the Iranian group attempted to log into the former presidential candidate’s account, but was unsuccessful. The company notified those who were targeted.
In another example, an Iranian group has been creating websites posing as U.S. news sites and targeting voters across the political spectrum, the report said.
According to reports, a fake news website targeting a left-leaning audience insulted Trump, calling him “crazy” and suggesting that he uses drugs. Another site designed to appeal to Republican readers focuses on LGBTQ issues and gender confirmation surgery.
A third example cited by Microsoft found that Iranian groups were impersonating U.S. activists, potentially laying the groundwork for influence operations closer to the election.
Finally, another Iranian group compromised an account owned by a government employee in a swing state in May, the report said. It is unclear whether the cyber attack is related to election interference activities.
Iran’s U.N. mission sent an emailed statement to The Associated Press: “Iran has been the victim of numerous offensive cyber operations targeting its infrastructure, public service centers and industry. Iran’s cyber capabilities are defensive in nature.” , and is proportional to the threats it faces. Iran has no intention or plan to launch cyber attacks. The U.S. presidential election is an internal matter and Iran will not interfere.
As Iran’s online influence escalates, Russia-linked actors have also shifted the focus of their influence activities to the U.S. election, while actors tied to the Chinese Communist Party have exploited pro-Palestinian universities, Microsoft’s report said. Protests and other current events seek to heighten political tensions in the United States.
Microsoft said it has been monitoring how foreign adversaries use generative artificial intelligence technology. Increasingly cheap and accessible tools that can generate lifelike fake images, photos and videos in seconds have raised concerns among some experts who fear they will be used as weapons to mislead during this election cycle voter.
The company said that while many countries have experimented with artificial intelligence in influence operations, these efforts have so far not had much impact. As a result, some actors are “turning back to techniques that have proven effective in the past — simple digital manipulation, mischaracterization of content and the use of trusted labels or logos on disinformation,” the report said.
Microsoft’s report is consistent with recent warnings from U.S. intelligence officials, who say U.S. adversaries appear determined to spread false and inflammatory narratives online ahead of the November vote.
Senior intelligence officials said last month that Russia still posed the biggest threat in terms of election disinformation, while there were signs that Iran was ramping up its efforts and China was proceeding cautiously on 2024.
Officials say Iran’s efforts appear aimed at weakening candidates seen as more likely to escalate tensions with Tehran. That description fits Trump, whose administration terminated the nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of top Iranian generals.
These influence efforts also coincide with a period of high tensions between Iran and Israel, with the United States strongly supporting Iranian and Israeli military forces.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said last month that the Iranian government is implicitly supporting U.S. protests against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Haines said Iran-linked groups are posing as online activists, encouraging protests and providing financial support to some protest groups.
America’s enemies, Iran among them, have long tried to influence U.S. elections. Intelligence officials say Iran-linked groups sent emails to Democratic voters in 2020 in an apparent effort to sway their votes.
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Associated Press writers David Klepper and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
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