Media Wire

Microsoft says Russian hackers targeting US officials

Russian hacker group Midnight Blizzard has been sending highly targeted phishing emails to American individuals working in government, academia, defense, and non-governmental organizations, Microsoft has warned in a blog post.

The warning came exactly a week before the US presidential election, with US intelligence accusing Russia of interference to undermine the Democratic ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

During the campaign, detected by Microsoft on Oct. 22, thousands of emails were sent to more than 100 organizations. According to Microsoft, the goal of the ongoing operation is likely intelligence gathering.

“Based on our investigation of previous Midnight Blizzard spear-phishing campaigns, we assess that the goal of this operation is likely intelligence collection,” Microsoft added.

The hacker group has been linked by the United States and the United Kingdom to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). Their activity dates back to 2018, and they usually target governments, diplomatic entities, NGOs, and IT service providers, primarily in the United States and Europe.

Phishing emails use social engineering tactics to manipulate recipients. They exploit emotions like fear, urgency, or curiosity to trick them into revealing sensitive information or clicking on malicious links.

These emails often impersonate trusted entities, such as banks or government agencies, making them appear legitimate and increasing the likelihood of victim response.

IFP Media Wire

Reports and views published in the Media Wire section have been retrieved from other news agencies and websites, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website. The IFP may change the headlines of the reports in a bid to make them compatible with its own style of covering Iran News, and does not make any changes to the content. The source and URL of all reports and news stories are mentioned at the bottom of each article.

Recent Posts

Netanyahu plans to delay his son’s wedding amid Hezbollah drone attack: Report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to postpone his son's wedding, fearing drone attacks amid…

8 mins ago

Top diplomat says Israel utilized US-provided flight route over Iraq to attack Iran

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has stated that during its recent act of aggression…

28 mins ago

Iran’s minister of communications announces iPhone registry issue resolved

Iran's Minister of Communications Sattar Hashemi announced on Wednesday that the restriction on registering iPhone…

40 mins ago

Small number of North Korean soldiers already in Ukraine: Report

A small number of North Korean soldiers are already on the territory of Ukraine, fighting…

2 hours ago

Around 12k Palestinian students killed by Israel in Gaza, West Bank: Education Ministry

More than 11,825 Palestinian students have been killed in Israeli attacks since October last year,…

2 hours ago

Palestine UN envoy warns residents of northern Gaza face imminent execution by Israel

Palestine's permanent representative to the United Nations has warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians…

2 hours ago