WASHINGTON: U.S. intelligence officials and researchers at major internet firms say hackers from around the globe have targeted the 2020 U.S. election, including the campaigns of President Donald Trump and his challenger, Joe Biden.
Below is a partial list of the publicly reported hacks and disinformation operations blamed on foreign actors in the run-up to next week’s vote.
The group of Russian hackers accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election earlier this year targeted email accounts of Democratic state parties in California and Indiana, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The same set of cyber spies are alleged to have pursued influential think tanks in Washington and New York.
A group of Iranian hackers sent thousands of threatening messages to voters in several states, including Florida, according to U.S. officials. People familiar with the matter told Reuters that analysts were able rapidly to attribute the emails to Iran because of a redaction error made by the hackers in the video they attached to some of the messages.
In September Microsoft provided the most detailed pre-election breakdown of how foreign hackers were trying to snoop on the vote, alleging that Chinese hackers had targeted "people associated with the Joe Biden for President campaign." Microsoft also detailed similar activity by Russian and Iranian hackers.
Facebook and Twitter have repeatedly announced the dismantlement of foreign operations aimed at swaying American's minds - including the removal of a fake left-wing news site run out of Russia that was critical of Biden. Reuters later identified a mirror site geared toward U.S. right wingers.
In one of the earliest warnings tied to the 2020 presidential contest, Microsoft warned in October of last year that Iranian hackers had unsuccessfully targeted an unspecified presidential campaign. Reuters identified the campaign as being Trump’s.