Microsoft: Iran makes late play to meddle in U.S. elections | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"The effort from four separate groups includes both hacking attempts and fake news campaigns, according to the company.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Microsoft: Iran makes late play to meddle in U.S. elections\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The effort from four separate groups includes both hacking attempts and fake news campaigns, according to the company.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-09T04:00:00+00:00\"> <meta 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class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"30.739726027397\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/geopolitics\/\"> <span>Geopolitics<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> The effort from four separate groups includes both hacking attempts and fake news campaigns, according to the company. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections-2.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections-2.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections-2.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections-2.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections-2.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections-2.jpg?resize=506,337 506w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections-2.jpg?resize=1013,675 1013w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections-2.jpg?resize=1265,843 1265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\"><figcaption> Iran, Isfahan, Imam Square, Sheikh Lotfollah mosque, world heritage of the UNESCO; Tuul & Bruno Morandi, via Getty Images <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"32.491991733402\"><body readability=\"68.565474430978\"><\/p>\n<p>Iran is stepping up its efforts to interfere in the 2024 U.S. elections, laying the groundwork to stoke chaos with fake news campaigns and seeking to get into the accounts of candidates, Microsoft said in a report Friday.<\/p>\n<p>One Iranian hacking group sent a spear-phishing email two months ago to a high-ranking presidential campaign official, relying on a compromised email account of a former senior adviser, according to the tech giant. It also tried to log into the account of a former presidential candidate. Microsoft didn\u2019t name any of the targets.<\/p>\n<p>In total, four different groups have conducted a range of activities, Microsoft said. <\/p>\n<p>Microsoft has observed one of the fake news campaigns targeting audiences on both sides of the political spectrum. That revelation comes less than two weeks after U.S. intelligence officials briefed reporters that Iran appears intent on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/elections\/2024\/07\/29\/iran-trump-election-interference\/\">undermining the campaign<\/a> of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>One compromise of a county-level government employee looked like part of a broader, less targeted campaign.<\/p>\n<p>The increase in activity appears to fit a pattern of Iran making a later play at influencing elections than other meddlers, such as Russia, according to the report from the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver the past several months, we have seen the emergence of significant influence activity by Iranian actors,\u201d the report states. \u201cIranian cyber-enabled influence operations have been a consistent feature of at least the last three US election cycles. Iran\u2019s operations have been notable and distinguishable from Russian campaigns for appearing later in the election season and employing cyberattacks more geared toward election conduct than swaying voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Iranian activity falls into two categories, Clint Watts, general manager of the Microsoft center, said in a blog post. \u201cThey\u2019ve laid the groundwork for influence campaigns on trending election-related topics and begun to activate these campaigns in an apparent effort to stir up controversy or sway voters \u2013 especially in swing states,\u201d he wrote, adding that \u201cthey\u2019ve launched operations that Microsoft assesses are designed to gain intelligence on political campaigns and help enable them to influence the elections in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One fake news site Microsoft identified catered to liberal audiences and called Trump an \u201copioid-pilled elephant in the MAGA china shop\u201d and a \u201craving mad litigiosaur.\u201d Another claimed to be a source of conservative news, with a focus on gender reassignment and other LGBTQ issues. Both were the work of one Iranian group, Mcirosoft said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Watts wrote that another group \u201cmay be setting itself up for activities that are even more extreme, including intimidation or inciting violence against political figures or groups, with the ultimate goals of inciting chaos, undermining authorities, and sowing doubt about election integrity. \u201c<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. government has <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/two-iranian-hackers-charged-in-sprawling-effort-to-interfere-in-2020-u-s-election\/\">filed charges against Iranians<\/a> over past alleged election interference. Perhaps the most prominent of those campaigns involved pretending to be the far-right hate group the Proud Boys and sending emails to Democratic voters.<\/p>\n<p>Other Microsoft reports on election meddling this year have focused on <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/microsoft-ai-election-taiwan\/\">China\u2019s use of artificial intelligence<\/a> and Russian attempts to <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.microsoft.com\/on-the-issues\/2024\/04\/17\/russia-us-election-interference-deepfakes-ai\/\">undermine U.S. support<\/a> for Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"7.7216117216117\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Tim Starks\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-card__details\" readability=\"10.901098901099\">\n<h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Tim Starks<\/h4>\n<p> Tim Starks is senior reporter at CyberScoop. His previous stops include working at The Washington Post, POLITICO and Congressional Quarterly. An Evansville, Ind. native, he’s covered cybersecurity since 2003. Email Tim here: <a href=\"mailto:tim.starks@cyberscoop.com\">tim.starks@cyberscoop.com<\/a>. <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div 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{"id":4781,"date":"2024-08-08T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=81364"},"modified":"2024-08-08T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T04:00:00","slug":"microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/08\/08\/microsoft-iran-makes-late-play-to-meddle-in-u-s-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft: Iran makes late play to meddle in U.S. elections"},"content":{"rendered":"