Microsoft: Iran is Accelerating Cyber Activity that Appears Meant to Influence US Election

A Microsoft logo is seen on a screen as people listen at an event at Microsoft headquarters, May 20, 2024, in Redmond, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
A Microsoft logo is seen on a screen as people listen at an event at Microsoft headquarters, May 20, 2024, in Redmond, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
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Microsoft: Iran is Accelerating Cyber Activity that Appears Meant to Influence US Election

A Microsoft logo is seen on a screen as people listen at an event at Microsoft headquarters, May 20, 2024, in Redmond, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
A Microsoft logo is seen on a screen as people listen at an event at Microsoft headquarters, May 20, 2024, in Redmond, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

Iran is ramping up online activity that appears intended to influence the upcoming US election, in one case targeting a presidential campaign with an email phishing attack, Microsoft said Friday.
Iranian actors also have spent recent months creating fake news sites and impersonating activists, laying the groundwork to stoke division and potentially sway American voters this fall, especially in swing states, the technology giant found, according to The Associated Press.
The findings in Microsoft’s newest threat intelligence report show how Iran, which has been active in recent US campaign cycles, is evolving its tactics for another election that’s likely to have global implications. The report goes a step beyond anything US intelligence officials have disclosed, giving specific examples of Iranian groups and the actions they have taken so far. Iran's United Nations mission denied it had plans to interfere or launch cyberattacks in the US presidential election.
The report doesn’t specify Iran’s intentions besides sowing chaos in the United States, though US officials have previously hinted that Iran particularly opposes former President Donald Trump. US officials also have expressed alarm about Tehran's efforts to seek retaliation for a 2020 strike on an Iranian general that was ordered by Trump. This week, the Justice Department unsealed criminal charges against a Pakistani man with ties to Iran who’s alleged to have hatched assassination plots targeting multiple officials, potentially including Trump.
The report also reveals how Russia and China are exploiting US political polarization to advance their own divisive messaging in a consequential election year.
Microsoft’s report identified four examples of recent Iranian activity that the company expects to increase as November’s election draws closer.
First, a group linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in June targeted a high-ranking US presidential campaign official with a phishing email, a form of cyberattack often used to gather sensitive information, according to the report, which didn't identify which campaign was targeted. The group concealed the email’s origins by sending it from the hacked email account of a former senior adviser, Microsoft said.
Days later, the Iranian group tried to log into an account that belonged to a former presidential candidate, but wasn’t successful, Microsoft’s report said. The company notified those who were targeted.
In a separate example, an Iranian group has been creating websites that pose as US-based news sites targeted to voters on opposite sides of the political spectrum, the report said.
One fake news site that lends itself to a left-leaning audience insults Trump by calling him “raving mad" and suggests he uses drugs, the report said. Another site meant to appeal to Republican readers centers on LGBTQ issues and gender-affirming surgery.
A third example Microsoft cited found that Iranian groups are impersonating US activists, potentially laying the groundwork for influence operations closer to the election.
Finally, another Iranian group in May compromised an account owned by a government employee in a swing state, the report said. It was unclear whether that cyberattack was related to election interference efforts.
Iran's UN mission sent The Associated Press an emailed statement: “Iran has been the victim of numerous offensive cyber operations targeting its infrastructure, public service centers, and industries. Iran’s cyber capabilities are defensive and proportionate to the threats it faces. Iran has neither the intention nor plans to launch cyber attacks. The US presidential election is an internal matter in which Iran does not interfere.”
The Microsoft report said that as Iran escalates its cyber influence, Russia-linked actors also have pivoted their influence campaigns to focus on the US election, while actors linked to the Chinese Communist Party have taken advantage of pro-Palestinian university protests and other current events in the US to try to raise US political tensions.
Microsoft said it has continued to monitor how foreign foes are using generative AI technology. The increasingly cheap and easy-to-access tools can generate lifelike fake images, photos and videos in seconds, prompting concern among some experts that they will be weaponized to mislead voters this election cycle.
While many countries have experimented with AI in their influence operations, the company said, those efforts haven’t had much impact so far. The report said as a result, some actors have “pivoted back to techniques that have proven effective in the past — simple digital manipulations, mischaracterization of content, and use of trusted labels or logos atop false information.”
Microsoft’s report aligns with recent warnings from US intelligence officials, who say America’s adversaries appear determined to seed the internet with false and incendiary claims ahead of November’s vote.
Top intelligence officials said last month that Russia continues to pose the greatest threat when it comes to election disinformation, while there are indications that Iran is expanding its efforts and China is proceeding cautiously when it comes to 2024.
Iran's efforts seem aimed at undermining candidates seen as being more likely to increase tension with Tehran, the officials said. That’s a description that fits Trump, whose administration ended a nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of the top Iranian general.
The influence efforts also coincide with a time of high tensions between Iran and Israel, whose military the US strongly supports.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said last month that the Iranian government has covertly supported American protests over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Groups linked to Iran have posed as online activists, encouraged protests and provided financial support to some protest groups, Haines said.
America’s foes, Iran among them, have a long history of seeking to influence US elections. In 2020, groups linked to Iran sent emails to Democratic voters in an apparent effort to intimidate them into voting for Trump, intelligence officials said.



Worker Dies after US Immigration Raid on California Farm

California National Guard troops face off with protestors during a federal immigration raid on Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California. BLAKE FAGAN / AFP
California National Guard troops face off with protestors during a federal immigration raid on Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California. BLAKE FAGAN / AFP
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Worker Dies after US Immigration Raid on California Farm

California National Guard troops face off with protestors during a federal immigration raid on Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California. BLAKE FAGAN / AFP
California National Guard troops face off with protestors during a federal immigration raid on Glass House Farms in Camarillo, California. BLAKE FAGAN / AFP

A farm worker died on Friday after being injured during a raid by US immigration agents on a legal cannabis farm in California that resulted in the arrests of 200 undocumented migrants and clashes with protestors.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, called demonstrators involved in attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents "slimeballs" and said they should be arrested, reported AFP.

In another development, a district judge ordered a halt to "roving patrols" in Los Angeles by federal agents who were detaining suspected undocumented migrants without probable cause and denying them due process.

District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ordered an end to the arrests, which she said were being made "based upon race alone," on whether a person was speaking Spanish or English with an accent or because of their place of work and ordered them stopped.

Trump's remarks and the court order come a day after a chaotic raid on a cannabis plantation in Ventura County some 56 miles (90 kilometers) from Los Angeles left one farm worker critically injured.

The United Farm Workers labor union said in a post on X on Friday that the worker had "died of injuries they sustained as a result of yesterday's immigration enforcement action."

Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman, said the man who died was never in custody.

"Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30 feet (10 meters)," McLaughlin said. "(Customs and Border Patrol) immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible."

The DHS said 200 undocumented migrants were arrested during raids on marijuana growing sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday and 10 children were rescued "from potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking."

Glass House Brands, which owns the farms, said in a statement that it has "never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors."

DHS said more than 500 "rioters" had attempted to disrupt the operation and four US citizens are facing charges for assaulting or resisting officers.

Tear gas was used against the protestors, some of whom were seen in television footage throwing projectiles at law enforcement vehicles.

The department said immigration agency vehicles were damaged and a $50,000 reward was being offered for the arrest of an individual who allegedly fired a gun at law enforcement officers.

Showdown

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had watched footage of "thugs" throwing rocks and bricks at ICE vehicles, causing "tremendous damage."

Trump said he was authorizing law enforcement officers who are "on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks, or any other form of assault, to stop their car, and arrest these SLIMEBALLS, using whatever means is necessary to do so."

"I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public," he said.

Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to deport millions of migrants, has been involved in a showdown over immigration enforcement with Democratic-ruled California for weeks.

The Republican president sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles last month to quell protests against roundups of undocumented migrants by federal agents.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the troops were not necessary to address the mostly peaceful protests, but his legal efforts to have them removed have failed so far.

The cannabis farm in Camarillo was calm during a visit by an AFP reporter on Friday as workers waited in line to collect their belongings and paychecks.

"We've been here since six this morning asking questions but they're not giving us any information," said Saul Munoz, a 43-year-old Colombian whose son was detained on Thursday.

"I just want to know how he's doing," Munoz said. "Bring him back to me and if it's time for us to leave, we'll leave.

"The truth is the American dream is no longer really the American dream."