[ad_1]
Microsoft said on Thursday it thwarted recent cyberattacks by China, Russia and Iran targeting both Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns, as tech giants scrambled to protect electoral security less than two months before the US vote.
The announcement came as Twitter said it would implement a policy next week to remove “false or misleading information intended to undermine public confidence in an election,” including unverified victory claims; and Google said it would take steps to ensure its “autocomplete” search feature doesn’t make such wrong suggestions.
Microsoft said the attackers have been targeting the campaign staff of President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.
“In recent weeks, Microsoft has detected cyberattacks targeting individuals and organizations involved in the upcoming presidential elections,” said corporate vice president Tom Burt.
It was clear that “foreign activity groups have intensified their efforts targeting the 2020 elections as anticipated,” according to Burt.
The attackers have also targeted political operatives, think tanks, consultants and political parties in Europe, Microsoft said.
He identified a Russia-based group called Strontium that Burt said “has targeted more than 200 organizations,” and China-based Zirconium, which he said “has targeted high-profile individuals associated with the election, including individuals associated with the election. with Joe Biden for campaign chairman and prominent leaders in the international affairs community. “
An Iran-based group called Phosphorus has been targeting the personal accounts of people associated with the Trump campaign, Microsoft said.
Most of those attacks were stopped by Microsoft’s security tools, and those attacked or compromised were alerted, according to Burt.
Russia is trying to undermine voters’ faith in the United States electoral system and especially in voting by mail before the Nov. 3 elections, according to an analysis by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
A statement in August from the National Center for Counterintelligence and Security said Russia is actively working against Biden’s candidacy, favoring Trump as it did in 2016.
Microsoft’s announcement affirms DHS warnings that “China, Iran and Russia are trying to undermine our democracy and influence our elections,” Acting Secretary Chad Wolf said in a prepared statement.
China denied the accusation, accusing Microsoft of “manufacturing” and “creating problems” by raising the accusation.
“The US presidential election is an internal US affair,” said Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
“We have no interest in interfering with it, and we never interfere with it.”
Twitter’s policy that goes into effect on September 17 prohibits “false or misleading information” about the vote, as well as “controversial claims that could undermine faith in the process itself,” such as allegations of election manipulation, ballot tampering, vote counting or certification of electoral results.
The move comes amid mounting concerns about when the results for the presidential election will be verified, in light of an expected large volume of mail-in ballots, whose integrity Trump has been attacking for months.
The policy prohibits “misleading statements about the results” or interference in the electoral process, such as “claiming victory before the electoral results are certified, inciting illegal conduct to prevent a peaceful transfer of power or an orderly succession.”
Some analysts have suggested that Trump may reject the election results or refuse to leave office if he loses, while Trump himself has spent months suggesting that the Democrats were trying to “rig” the election and refusing to say whether he will accept the results.
Both Twitter and Facebook have tagged Trump’s post on voting by mail, sent to his tens of millions of followers.
“We will not allow our service to be abused around civic processes, especially elections,” Twitter said.
Google separately announced that it would tighten controls for its “autocomplete” search function to protect against misinformation.
“We will remove predictions that could be construed as statements for or against any candidate or political party,” said Search Vice President Pandu Nayak.
“We will also remove predictions that could be construed as a claim about participation in elections, such as statements about voting methods, requirements or the state of polling places, or the integrity or legitimacy of electoral processes, such as security. of the election. “
This will rule out predictions such as “you can vote by phone,” Nayak said.
Social media operators have been battling disinformation campaigns from Russia, China and other countries along with unverified claims from Trump about the voting process.
Facebook said last month that it was bracing for efforts by Trump or others to attack the integrity of the US election.
juj-rl-gc / st / je / qan
