Microsoft finds Russian hackers targeting political groups

Hackers tied to the Russian government attempted to breach the websites of two U.S. conservative think tanks ahead of midterm congressional elections in November, Microsoft said. The company said the hackers created fake internet domains spoofing the websites of the Hudson Institute and the International Republican Institute. Microsoft said it also spotted three other fake domains designed to mimic the U.S. Senate website. The board of the International Republican Institute includes six Republican senators and Mitt Romney, who is running for a Senate seat in Utah this fall.

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer, said the websites would have exposed users to computer infiltration, data theft, and hidden surveillance. Smith said there was no sign the hackers succeeded in persuading anyone to click on the fake sites. A similar Microsoft discovery weeks earlier revealed Russian hackers also tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate the computer networks of Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat running for reelection. “We’re concerned that these and other attempts pose security threats to a broadening array of groups connected with both American political parties in the run-up to the 2018 elections,” Microsoft said in a blog post. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the allegations, saying the statement lacked detail.