BFF-38 Microsoft warns of hacker ‘attacks’ on EU elections

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Microsoft warns of hacker ‘attacks’ on EU elections

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Feb 20, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Tech giant Microsoft said
Wednesday it had detected hacker “attacks” ahead of European Parliament and
national elections in the EU, in a warning to civil society groups,
politicians and campaigns.

The firm said a group it calls Strontium was behind the attacks, known to
security firms and government agencies as Fancy Bear or APT28 and widely
believed to be linked to Russian intelligence.

“At Microsoft, we’ve seen recent activity targeting democratic
institutions in Europe,” security chief Tom Burt wrote in a blog post.

“Attacks are not limited to campaigns themselves but often extend to think
tanks and non-profit organizations working on topics related to democracy,
electoral integrity and public policy and that are often in contect with
government officials,” he added.

Among others, Microsoft found the hackers targeted 104 employee accounts
from well-known groups the German Council on Foreign Relations, the Aspen
Institutes in Europe and the German Marshall Fund (GMF) between September and
December 2018.

The hackers deployed so-called “spearphishing” tactics — using targeted
fake emails or websites to try and harvest workers’ credentials and gain
access to computer systems.

Among the targets were employees based in EU members Belgium, France,
Germany, Poland and Romania as well as non-member Serbia.

“Organizations and individuals need to be aware and prepared that malign
forces, including sophisticated state actors, seek to exploit them in the
digital space,” GMF president Karen Donfried said in a blog post.

“It is more important than ever that we be vigilant to protect our
democracies from foreign interference, including online.”

The Old Continent faces a string of votes in the coming months, including
European Parliament elections in May, parliamentary polls in Estonia, Finland
and Belgium and presidential ballots in Slovakia, Ukraine and Lithuania.

“It is highly likely that foreign powers will target many of these
elections,” former NATO secretary-general and Danish prime minister Anders
Fogh Rasmussen warned last week at the Munich Security conference

Attacks could come “either by breaking into electoral systems, covertly
supporting candidates or in getting toxic news in traditional and online
media,” he added.

Former US vice president Joe Biden backed Rasmussen in warning of “cyber
attacks, dark money influence operations and disinformation” used by “Russian
but also other actors”.

BSS/AFP/ARS/1836 hrs