Recent Microsoft research has raised concerns about Iran-backed hackers who are trying to interfere in the US presidential elections.
According to Microsoft researchers, Iranian hackers tried to target a “high-ranking official” of the US presidential campaign, although the researchers did not reveal any specific information about the official who has become the latest victim of Iranian hackers.
These allegations came at a time when the Trump campaign accused the Iranian operatives of hacking its internal communication documents.
Trump’s campaign confirmed the hacking attempts after famous media outlet Politico received emails from an anonymous account claiming to be “Robert” that disclosed internal documents of the Trump campaign. Included in these documents was the research that the Trump campaign conducted on J.D. Vance in February, whom the former president eventually selected as his running mate.
Trump’s campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, stated that these documents were hacked by elements that are “hostile” to the United States and want to disturb the Democratic elections in the country.
Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) noted that the campaign official received phishing emails, a common hacking technique in which hackers make the email appear credible to trick their target into clicking on a link and submitting the required information.
Although Cheung did not explicitly suggest that MTAC’s report was talking about the Trump campaign, he did acknowledge that the report’s timing “coincides” with the timing of Trump’s selection of Vance as his running mate.
Cheung also lambasted Iran, stating that the regime is well aware of the fact that Trump will stop their “reign of terror” after coming to power, which is forcing them to engage in illicit activities.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Iran’s mission to the United Nations, located in New York, stated that they do not believe in the credibility of such reports. The spokesperson further added that they only engage in “defensive and proportionate” cyber activities against the threats their country faces, adding that the presidential elections are an internal matter of the United States, where Iran does not interfere.
Senior American intelligence officials have also recently raised alarms about the rising involvement of Iran to create political divisions in the United States.
The Microsoft report accused Iran of trying to get its hands on critical campaigning material in order to impact the swing states. Furthermore, the report stated that the hackers were involved in a “password spray operation,” which is a hacking technique in which cyber criminals use a number of leaked passwords on different accounts before they can break into the account that actually used that leaked password.
Foreign intervention is a common phenomenon in U.S. elections, with countries like Iran, China, and Russia leading efforts to manipulate the presidential election results in favor of their preferred candidates.
Apart from hacking into the campaign accounts, this intervention also includes launching mass propaganda drives to change public opinion during the election year.
The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has further enabled China and Russia to empower their propaganda machinery to create political division in America and possibly try to impact the election results.
