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It may come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that experts say, in revealing the most prevalent and likely tactics to meddle with elections this year, that state-sponsored cybercriminals pose the biggest threat. As leaders of major international powers, both of these elections are likely to be targeted by foreign adversaries, and according to security giant Mandiant's latest report on election security trends, defenders should be aware of the four Ds. DDoS attacks, data theft and leaks, disinformation, and deepfakes lead the way as the most likely types of attacks to be trialed during this year's elections, researchers say, all of which have the potential to impact voter outcomes.
We stand at a crossroads for election misinformation: on one side our election apparatus has reached a higher level of security and is better defended from malicious attackers than ever before. The challenge, when we look at the run-up to the 2024 election, is balancing the need for cybersecurity to defend against these potential risks with the ability to hold a fair election that is free from potential threats.
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The UK's deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, says China has been unsuccessful in its attempts to undermine UK elections. Separately, UK parliamentarians - many of whom are known for their criticism of Beijing - had their email accounts targeted by a China state-linked group in 2021.
Feature Two US intelligence bigwigs last week issued stark warnings about foreign threats to American election integrity and security - and the nation's ability to counter these adversaries. A few days earlier, US senator Mark Warner, who chairs the Senate's Intelligence Committee, told Trellix CEO Bryan Palma that the United States is less prepared to combat foreign intervention in the 2024 elections than was the case in 2020.
State and county officials have been urged to use paper ballots wherever possible over electronic ones, and ensure all election offices have procedures in place to handle potentially lethal substances, specifically fentanyl, anthrax, and ricin. On election threats, "We anticipate AI being leveraged for deception campaigns," said Michelle Alvarez, strategic threat analysis manager for IBM X-Force.
Considering that 2024 is a historic year for elections - with an estimated half of the world's population taking part in democratic votes - this high threat of cyber interference has significant implications for global free society, threatening to undermine confidence in voting processes or - at worst - even alter electoral outcomes, according to Tidal Cyber. A concerning 27% of countries with 2024 national elections face the highest threat levels, facing multiple priority adversary groups and many state-backed groups associated with priority adversary countries.
With more voters than ever in history heading to the polls in 2024, Resecurity has identified a growing trend of malicious cyber-activity targeting sovereign elections globally. In an era of unprecedented geopolitical volatility, this trend is particularly concerning, as Time Magazine notes that 64 countries are set to hold national elections this year.
Iran's anti-Israel cyber operations are providing a window into the techniques the country may deploy in the run-up to the 2024 US Presidential elections, Microsoft says. An analysis of Iran's activity, published by Microsoft Threat Analysis Center today, concluded that Iran may again target US elections as it did in 2020, using more sophisticated techniques from a wealth of different groups.