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Researchers at Microsoft have revealed that Iranian operatives are determined to influence the U.S. presidential election in November.
A Microsoft Threat Analysis Center report has detailed some of the tactics being deployed by Iran-backed actors to target voters on both sides of the political spectrum. The intention is to spread disinformation impacting the discourse in the run-up to the crucial vote.
The campaign has created several fake news outlets, purporting to provide news and updates from local points of interest, which could impact results in swing states. For example, one of the sites allegedly controlled by Iran went on the offensive against Donald Trump, calling him an “opioid-pilled elephant in the MAGA china shop” and a “raving mad ‘litigiosaur’.”
Another outlet claiming to provide coverage from Savannah, Georgia is self-described as a “trusted source for conservative news”, highlighting topics such as LGBTQ+ interests and gender reassignment.
One of the more high-profile takeaways from the Microsoft report revealed hackers attempted to breach an account belonging to a “high-ranking official” on the US presidential campaign trail in June, following a successful mission to access the account of a county-level official just weeks before.
Increasing Attacks on the Democratic Process
The in-depth report is compiled from findings taken from Microsoft’s vast internal data repository, which correlates to warnings from U.S. intelligence that bad actors are particularly seeking to make noise around the Trump campaign.
Microsoft stated the extent and number of covert operations from foreign sources have increased since the 2016 election when Russian-backed hackers attempted to sway the public conversation.
In a response to Reuters, an Iranian spokesperson rebuked the claims that Tehran was responsible for any of the disinformation.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said its cyber capabilities were “defensive and proportionate to the threats it faces” and “The U.S. presidential election is an internal matter in which Iran does not interfere.”
