Cybersecurity Policy Report, Rep. Green Urges Cyber Vigilance Amid New Reports of Foreign Election Meddling, (Aug 15, 2024)
As new reports emerge of cyber-enabled election interference, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R., Tenn.) today expressed alarm and called for renewed vigilance about cyber threats to the U.S.
“I am extremely alarmed as we learn more about the hacks of campaign accounts and the targeting of current officials, particularly as our nation’s largest information technology companies have highlighted Iran’s increased campaign targeting efforts,” Rep. Green said in a statement.
“Tehran and our other adversaries’ heightened interference on U.S. soil through influence campaigns, propaganda, and potentially through cyber intrusions into campaign infrastructure, sends a potent message about their desire to undermine our sovereignty and our democratic process,” he said.
“While we have seen these incidents before around election season, technological advancements are increasing the damage caused by our cyber adversaries and opportunistic criminals. Yet, our adversaries don’t always need sophisticated technology to attack our networks—they merely need the right information and patience,” he noted.
“The Committee is closely monitoring these incidents and will work with the appropriate agencies and private-sector partners to understand the extent of the intrusions. In the meantime, this news should put us on high alert and remind us to be as proactive as possible in ensuring the resilience of our federal civilian and private networks from threat actors, given the cascading impacts of cyber intrusions are rarely isolated to one sector, industry, or agency,” Rep. Green added.
The reports Rep. Green cited included an assessment by Microsoft Corp. that found numerous efforts by foreign adversaries to interfere in U.S. elections through cyber attacks and the spread of disinformation. The Microsoft report was quickly followed by Donald Trump’s disclosure that Iran had hacked his presidential campaign and stolen documents (CPR, Aug. 12).
In addition, a new report released yesterday by Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) revealed that cyber campaigns thought to be run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and known as APT42 had targeted the online accounts of U.S. presidential candidates.
“In May and June, APT42 targets included the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen individuals affiliated with President Biden and with former President Trump, including current and former officials in the U.S. government and individuals associated with the respective campaigns,” TAG said.
“Today, TAG continues to observe unsuccessful attempts from APT42 to compromise the personal accounts of individuals affiliated with President Biden, Vice President Harris and former President Trump, including current and former government officials and individuals associated with the campaigns,” it said.
TAG said it had notified targeted individuals and disabled some of the infrastructure and accounts used to launch cyber attacks or distribute malware.
“APT42 is a sophisticated, persistent threat actor and they show no signs of stopping their attempts to target users and deploy novel tactics. This spring and summer, they have shown the ability to run numerous simultaneous phishing campaigns, particularly focused on Israel and the U.S. As hostilities between Iran and Israel intensify, we can expect to see increased campaigns there from APT42,” it said.
“We also remain vigilant for targeting around the U.S. election and encourage all high-risk individuals including elected officials, candidates, campaign workers, journalists, election workers, government officials, and others to sign up for Google’s Advanced Protection Program,” TAG added. “APP is a free, opt-in program designed to protect targeted users against such tactics, preventing unauthorized users from signing into an account even if they know the password.”
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