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The technology giant Microsoft said Thursday that in recent weeks it has detected and prevented cyberattacks by Russia and China against people and organizations linked to the November 3 presidential elections in the United States.
Those responsible for the attacks targeted the election campaign teams of Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden, the company said.
Microsoft claims to have detected 200 attacks by Russian hacker groups against campaign teams and political advisers.
China’s failed attempts were directly against political figures like Biden and a person “previously associated” with the Trump administration, Microsoft noted.
“In recent weeks, Microsoft has detected cyberattacks targeting individuals and organizations involved in the upcoming presidential elections. [dos EUA], including unsuccessful attacks against individuals associated with the Trump and Biden campaigns, “reads the note, signed by Tom Burt, vice president of security and customer trust, on the company’s blog.
The Microsoft official says these attacks show that the activities of foreign groups have escalated to lead to the US elections, “as predicted” by the US authorities.
“We defend and will continue to defend our democracy against these attacks by notifying affected customers of such activities,” said Tom Burt.
Microsoft says that those responsible for these attacks have acted against political agents, think tanks (think tanks), political consultants and political parties in Europe.
Three groups from Russia, China and Iran are at the origin of the cyberattacks
The cyberattacks were carried out by three entities, the company reveals.
The group Strontium, operating from Russia, attacked more than 200 organizations, “including political campaigns, parties and political advisers,” explains Tom Burt. This group was identified in the Mueller report as the main organization responsible for the attacks on Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016.
Or Zirconium, based in China, He “attacked high-profile people associated with the elections, including people linked to the Joe Biden campaign” and international personalities.
Based in Iran, the group called Phosphorus It unsuccessfully tried to hack into the personal accounts of people associated with the Donald Trump campaign, Microsoft says.
“Most of these attacks have been detected and stopped by security tools built into our products,” said Burt.
“We directly notify those who have been attacked or compromised so that they can take measures to protect themselves,” added the head of the technology giant.
