Iranian hackers have probed US election websites for vulnerabilities, Microsoft says

Iranian government-linked hackers have researched and probed election-related websites in multiple US swing states, in a possible effort to discover vulnerabilities that could be used influence the presidential election, Microsoft said in a report released Wednesday.

Iranian government-linked hackers have researched and probed election-related websites in multiple US swing states, in a possible effort to discover vulnerabilities that could be used to influence the presidential election, Microsoft said in a report released Wednesday. Officials from multiple federal agencies are looking closely at the Iranian activity, a US official told CNN. The researching of election-related websites took place in April but was only recently discovered by Microsoft analysts. The hackers also “conducted reconnaissance of major U.S. media outlets” in May, according to Microsoft. US intelligence agencies have assessed that Iran has tried to stoke discord during the 2024 election, in part through hacking activity targeting the campaign of former President Donald Trump and in part by encouraging protests of US policy towards Israel. Microsoft analysts expect the Iranian hacking group to “increase its activity as the election nears given the group’s operational tempo and history of election interference,” the tech firm said in its report Wednesday. It’s the latest sign of efforts by multiple Iranian, Russian and Chinese groups to either influence or monitor the US election in the final throes of the presidential campaign.