Microsoft said on Thursday it thwarted recent cyberattacks from China, Russia and Iran targeting both Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns, as technology giants scrambled to protect election security less than two months ahead of the U.S. vote.
The announcement came as Twitter said it would implement a policy next week to remove “false or misleading information intended to undermine public confidence in an election,” including unverified claims of victory; and Google said it would take steps to ensure its “autocomplete” search feature doesn't make such misguided suggestions.
Microsoft said that attackers have been targeting staff from the campaigns of President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.
“In recent weeks, Microsoft has detected cyberattacks targeting people and organisations involved in the upcoming presidential election,” said corporate vice president Tom Burt.
It was clear that “foreign activity groups have stepped up their efforts targeting the 2020 election as had been anticipated,” according to Mr. Burt.
The attackers have targeted political operatives, think tanks, consultants and political parties in Europe as well, Microsoft said.
It identified a Russia-based group called Strontium which Mr. Burt said “has attacked more than 200 organisations,” and China-based Zirconium, which he said “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.”
An Iran-based group dubbed Phosphorus has been targeting personal accounts of people associated with the Trump campaign, Microsoft said.
The majority of those attacks were stopped by Microsoft security tools, and those targeted or compromised were alerted, according to Mr. Burt.
Russia is trying to undermine voters' faith in the U.S. electoral system and especially in voting by mail ahead of the November 3 election, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) analysis.
A statement in August from the National Counterintelligence and Security Center said Russia is actively working against Biden's candidacy, favouring Mr. Trump as it did in 2016.
Published - September 11, 2020 11:03 pm IST
