US Campaigns Are Targets of Foreign Hackers, Microsoft Says

By Dana Cruz First Posted: Sep 11, 2020 12:20 AM EDT

Foreign hackers are targeting U.S. campaign staff members, consultants, and think tanks associated with both Democrats and Republicans, Microsoft said Thursday.

(Photo : Photo by Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)
A signage of Microsoft is seen on March 13, 2020 in New York City.

The foreign hackers are trying to breach computers at more than 200 organizations, including those in the U.S. campaigns and their consultants, the Associated Press reported.

In a CNN report, Microsoft said the hacking appears to be from groups in Russia, China, and Iran. In a post on their site, they said the activity makes it clear that groups have stepped up their efforts in targeting the 2020 election.

The attacks were "more stealthy" than the foreign hacker attacks against the Democratic National Committee in 2016, said the New York Times.

BBC also reported that the attacks were not confined to the U.S. British parties also became targets for the hackers. But it was not known which parties were targeted.

Russian hackers from the Strontium group were responsible for the 2016 attack. It is also believed to be the same group involved in the current hacking issues.

Strontium is a cyber attack unit allegedly linked to military intelligence. It is also known as Fancy Bear.

Top US Officials Weigh In

The country's top cyber security officials acknowledged that Microsoft did find attempts to botch email accounts of people related to the election. But they said there is no proof that election systems are being affected by the attacks.

Chris Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), spoke in behalf of the Department of Homeles Security.

Krebs said: "It is important to highlight that none are involved in maintaining or operating voting infrastructure." He added that there was no impact found on election systems.

Microsoft's security software stopped most of the attempts to hack. Targets were also notified of the attack. Some of them even managed to stop the hacking, said Microsoft VP Tom Burt.

The company did not comment on who was successfully hacked. The extent of the impact was also undisclosed.

What Did the Foreign Hackers Want?

Burt said, similar to the 2016 attack, there were attempts to get people's log-in credentials. Attempts to compromise these accounts were also found.

Microsoft assumed that the attempts were ways to aid in intel gathering or disruption of operations.

The tech giant said that Chinese hackers attack some people connected to Biden's campaign, while the hackers in Iran are targeting people in Trump's campaign.

The Chinese hacking group, known as Zirconium targeted "prominent individuals" in international affairs, academic institutions, and policy.

Meanwhile, the Iranian group, known as Phosphorus, failed to access White House officials accounts, Microsoft said.

A John Hopkins geopolitics expert, Thomas Rid, said he was disappointed with the firm's refusal to differentiate threat levels by state actor.

He said he did not understand why Microsoft was "lumping in actors" even though they operate in different ways. His guess was that there were no threat levels said to "probably make this sound more bipartisan."

As CISA said, there were no attacks on voting systems themselves. Burt stressed that these activities show the need for people "involved in the political process" to use free and low-cost security tools.

He ensured that these tools can protect against cyber attacks as election day draws near.