Iranians tried to hack U.S. presidential campaign in effort that targeted hundreds, Microsoft says

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/10/04/iran-tried-hack-us-presidential-candidates-journalists-effort-that-targeted-hundreds-microsoft-finds/

By Jay Greene, Tony Romm and Ellen Nakashima
The Washington Post
October 4, 2019

SEATTLE -- An effort believed to be tied to the Iranian government 
attempted to identify, attack and breach email accounts belonging to a 
U.S. presidential campaign, government officials and journalists, 
according to new data unveiled by Microsoft, highlighting the continued 
global security threats that loom over the fast-approaching 2020 election.

The intrusion observed by Microsoft, spearheaded by an outfit it calls 
Phosphorus, made more than 2,700 attempts to identify personal email 
addresses that belonged to the company’s customers over a 30-day period 
between August and September, 241 of which were then attacked. Four were 
compromised, but they do not belong to the presidential campaign or 
government officials, according to the tech giant.

Reuters and other news media outlets reported Friday that the hackers 
targeted President Trump’s campaign.

Microsoft said it notified the customers attacked and has worked with 
those whose accounts were compromised to secure them. It declined to 
disclose the names of the account holders, including the presidential 
campaign that had been targeted. Microsoft declined to comment beyond a 
blog post disclosing the news Friday.

[...]

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