Microsoft Identifies Early Threats Towards the 2020 Presidential Election

According to a blog post from the tech giant, there has been a ton of activity from one group, Phosphorus, that they believe associates with not only the country of Iran, but its government as well. More specifically, the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) found that during August and September, over 2,700 attacks were made by the group looking to find the emails of Microsoft accounts and target them. While the company isn’t releasing any names, they note that journalists associated with politics (especially related to Iran) alongside former political figures and government officials were targeted, among others. Phosphorus’ goal here seems to be to take over the accounts of those targeted and would do so by resetting their email passwords to gain access. However, Microsoft makes note of the fact that these attacks aren’t anything special, which is a little scarier considering what could happen will the group’s full effort. Fortunately, while they’re remaining anonymous in this post, Microsoft has reached out to those targeted to inform them of the threat. Overall, the post notes that Microsoft is making the public aware of such a threat as they believe it is right to disclose such information, especially when it is related to the election process. They also highlight the fact that the group’s attacks mean they’re willing to do whatever they can to alter elections and that the MSTIC is ready and willing to fight that. The company’s Digital Crimes Unit has taken the appropriate steps to prevent further attacks. What do you think about the Phosphorus attacks? What sort of effect will they have on the United States election next year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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