Russia, China and Iran are seeking to spread fake news in hopes of targeting audience throughout the United States, according to new research from Microsoft.
On Friday, the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) published a “threat intelligence” report that stated “foreign malign influence concerning the 2024 U.S. election started off slowly but has steadily picked up pace over the last six months due initially to Russian operations, but more recently from Iranian activity.”
The report highlighted a recent “emergence of significant influence activity by Iranian actors” but noted that MTAC has also discovered actors from Russia and China are allegedly seeking to influence aspects of the U.S., including the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
Microsoft’s report detailed how Iran, which has reportedly interfered in previous U.S. elections, is allegedly refining its strategies ahead of another election with global stakes. The report provides examples of actions allegedly taken by Iranian groups and offers insights that go beyond what U.S. intelligence has publicly disclosed. Meanwhile, Iran’s U.N. mission has denied any plans to interfere or launch cyberattacks in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been heightened in recent months amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas militants in Gaza. The U.S. has shown continued support for Israel while Iran has vowed to get revenge against Israel because they are believed to be behind the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
The U.S. has also experienced ongoing tensions with Russia due primarily to its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, as well as with China.
“MTAC has observed three Russian influence actors involved in campaigns aimed at the 2024 presidential election. MTAC tracks these as (1) Ruza Flood (a.k.a. Doppelganger2 ), (2) Storm1516, and (3) Storm-1841 (a.k.a. Rybar). Each has produced election influence campaigns to varying degrees of effectiveness,” the MTAC report said. “Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-linked influence actors continue to engage US audiences on divisive political issues, expanding to new platforms and evolving their tactics to engage new audience spaces ahead of November.”
The MTAC report did not specifically state Iran’s intentions in spreading misinformation throughout the U.S., however, they have previously expressed distaste for former President Donald Trump.
A report from CNN last month detailed how U.S. intelligence officials uncovered an alleged assassination plot against Trump by Iran after they criticized the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a 2020 strike ordered by Trump.
The MTAC report provides numerous examples relating to how Iran has attempted to spread fake news throughout the U.S., including a June incident where Mint Sandstorm, a group run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence unit, “sent a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor.”
In a statement sent to the Associated Press (AP), the Iranian Mission to the United Nations said, “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 U.S. presidential election is an internal matter in which Iran does not interfere,” the statement added.
