The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned on Friday, that Iran is targeting U.S. state websites, including election sites, to influence and interfere with the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
According to US FBI, the Iranian group is creating fictitious media sites and spoofing legitimate media sites to spread anti-American propaganda and misinformation about voter suppression.
On other hand, the attackers first used a legal web scanning tool called Acunetix from Sept 20 to Sept 28. Then they engaged in more conventional hacking techniques from Sept 29 to Oct 17 to try penetrating the targeted state systems.
Earlier, hackers breached several local government offices in US Louisiana, prompting state officials to enlist the National Guard to stop the attacks. The Louisiana cyber-attacks involved a remote access trojan, or RAT, the kind of malware often used to lay the groundwork for additional breaches, according to to Reuters report.
Iran is targeting U.S. state websites
In addition, the staff at several government offices in northern Louisiana were successfully compromised as part of the campaign. The Louisiana National Guard declined to comment on the incidents.
Last November, the New Orleans city, had its own cyber-security breach, forcing the entire city government to shut down electronic systems until the virus was purged. That process took months. Noteworthy, the FBI has warned that “foreign actors” are attempting to interfere in the 2020 elections.
Noteworthy, the intelligence officials explained that Russia and Iran had acquired voter registration information, and that Iran was behind threatening emails sent earlier in the last week to registered Democrats, urging them to vote for Trump.
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