|
|
|
Microsoft
uncovers
more
Russian
attacks
ahead of
midterms
By
MATT
O’BRIEN
APNews.com
REDMOND,
WA -
Microsoft
said
Tuesday
it has
uncovered
new
Russian
hacking
attempts
targeting
U.S.
political
groups
ahead of
the
midterm
elections.
The
company
said
that a
hacking
group
tied to
the
Russian
government
created
fake
internet
domains
that
appeared
to spoof
two
American
conservative
organizations:
the
Hudson
Institute
and the
International
Republican
Institute.
Three
other
fake
domains
were
designed
to look
as if
they
belonged
to the
U.S.
Senate.
Microsoft
didn’t
offer
any
further
description
of the
fake
sites.
The
revelation
came
just
weeks
after a
similar
Microsoft
discovery
led Sen.
Claire
McCaskill,
a
Missouri
Democrat
who is
running
for
re-election,
to
reveal
that
Russian
hackers
tried
unsuccessfully
to
infiltrate
her
Senate
computer
network.
The
hacking
attempts
mirror
similar
Russian
attacks
ahead of
the 2016
election,
which
U.S.
intelligence
officials
have
said
were
focused
on
helping
to elect
Republican
Donald
Trump to
the
presidency
by
hurting
his
Democratic
opponent,
Hillary
Clinton.
This
time,
more
than
helping
one
political
party
over
another,
“this
activity
is most
fundamentally
focused
on
disrupting
democracy,”
Brad
Smith,
Microsoft’s
president
and
chief
legal
officer,
said in
an
interview
this
week.
Smith
said
there is
no sign
the
hackers
were
successful
in
persuading
anyone
to click
on the
fake
websites,
which
could
have
exposed
a target
victim
to
computer
infiltration,
hidden
surveillance
and data
theft.
Both
conservative
think
tanks
said
they
have
tried to
be
vigilant
about
“spear-phishing”
email
attacks
because
their
global
pro-democracy
work has
frequently
drawn
the ire
of
authoritarian
governments.
“We’re
glad
that our
work is
attracting
the
attention
of bad
actors,”
said
Hudson
Institute
spokesman
David
Tell.
“It
means
we’re
having
an
effect,
presumably.”
The
International
Republican
Institute
is led
by a
board
that
includes
six
Republican
senators,
and one
prominent
Russia
critic
and
Senate
hopeful,
Mitt
Romney,
who is
running
for a
Utah
seat
this
fall.
Microsoft
calls
the
hacking
group
Strontium;
others
call it
Fancy
Bear or
APT28.
An
indictment
from
U.S.
special
counsel
Robert
Mueller
has tied
it to
Russian’s
main
intelligence
agency,
known as
the GRU,
and to
the 2016
email
hacking
of both
the
Democratic
National
Committee
and the
Clinton
campaign.
“We
have no
doubt in
our
minds”
who is
responsible,
Smith
said.
Microsoft
has
waged a
legal
battle
with
Strontium
since
suing it
in a
Virginia
federal
court in
summer
2016.
The
company
obtained
court
approval
last
year
allowing
it to
seize
certain
fake
domains
created
by the
group.
It has
so far
used the
courts
to shut
down 84
fake
websites
created
by the
group,
including
the most
recent
six
announced
Tuesday.
Microsoft
has
argued
in court
that by
setting
up fake
but
realistic-looking
domains,
the
hackers
were
misusing
Microsoft
trademarks
and
services
to hack
into
targeted
computer
networks,
install
malware
and
steal
sensitive
emails
and
other
data.
Smith
also
announced
Tuesday
that the
company
is
offering
free
cybersecurity
protection
to all
U.S.
political
candidates,
campaigns
and
other
political
organizations,
at least
so long
as
they’re
already
using
Microsoft’s
Office
365
productivity
software.
Facebook
and
Google
have
also
promoted
similar
tools to
combat
campaign
interference.
|
|
|
|
|
|