Iranian cyber groups targeting presidential campaigns, voters as election looms

Groups backed by the Iranian government and military have been targeting voters on both sides of the political spectrum with fake news outlets, Microsoft reported on Friday. The groups likely use artificial intelligence to plagiarize U.S. news outlets and craft articles meant to stir up either conservative or liberal voters, according to Microsoft.

Meanwhile, hacking groups supported by the Iranian military have launched at least one phishing attack against a presidential campaign and even mounted an unsuccessful attempt to compromise one former presidential candidate’s online account. Another group hacked into a county-level official in a swing state with a password spray operation but only managed to access one account, Microsoft said.

What sorts of fake websites are we talking about? One site, Nio Thinker, caters to left-leaning viewers and routinely insults former President Donald Trump, according to Microsoft. Another, Savannah Time, caters to conservatives, criticizing LGBT groups, and churning out reports about gender reassignment. The Iranian groups also used social media accounts to amplify the website’s reach, according to Microsoft’s report. The social media platform X has taken down what Microsoft characterized as an inauthentic network used to promote an Iranian-run site, EvenPolitics.

Dig deeper: Read my recent report in The Sift about how an Iranian operative allegedly sought to assassinate a U.S. politician earlier this year.