Less than two weeks before Election Day, Microsoft said Wednesday that Russia, Iran and China are continuously working to undermine support for both presidential candidates and down-ballot members of Congress. 

“Foreign actors have proven nimble and capable of inserting deceptive content and distributing it rapidly,” the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center said in its fifth election report warning of manipulated images, audio and video. “We expect Russia, Iran and China to continue their efforts, including using AI, and may employ tactics that seek to cast doubt about the integrity of the election’s outcome.”

What You Need To Know

  • Russia, Iran and China are continuously working to undermine support for both presidential candidates and down-ballot members of Congress with less than two weeks until Election Day

  • “Foreign actors have proven nimble and capable of inserting deceptive content and distributing it rapidly,” the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center said in its fifth election report warning of manipulated images, audio and video

  • An Iran-backed group poses as Americans on X, encouraging them to sit out the elections because both Harris and Trump support Israel's military operations, Microsoft said

  • A Russia influence operation is targeting the Harris-Walz campaign with AI-generated and staged videos, according to the Threat Center report

Last week, an Iranian-operated cyber persona began calling on Americans to boycott U.S. elections, the report said. Known as “Bushnell’s Men,” the group poses as Americans on the social media sites Telegram and X, saying voters should sit out the elections because GOP nominee Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris both support Israel’s military operations.

The group is also promoting anti-Israeli protests on university campuses with messages that say the pro-Palestine student movement is still alive.

The Threat Center said it expects Iranian groups to ramp up their influence efforts in the days before and following Election Day. It warned a group known as Cotton Sandstorm may hack media entities and states’ election-related websites in the days leading up to Nov. 5.

In 2020, the group ran an email campaign pretending to represent the Proud Boys right-wing group and threatening residents of Florida to “vote for Trump or else.” Following the 2020 election, the group called for violence against election officials who said the vote was secure, according to the Threat Center report.

While Iran is encouraging voters to disengage from the election, Russia’s influence operation is targeting the Harris-Walz campaign, Microsoft said. Over the last month, Russian actors have used artificial intelligence to create a deepfake video of Harris saying Trump refused to “even die with dignity” following two assassination attempts. 

That video received tens of thousands of views on X, but it was less successful than another Russian group’s video that claimed Harris was in a hit-and-run crash and had millions of views. Kremlin-backed influence campaigns tend to use deceptive editing, spoofs and staged videos to undermine Harris, including one from late last month that claimed Harris killed an endangered rhinoceros in Zambia, the Threat Center said.

Last week, a video Microsoft suspects was created by a Russia group depicted a person accusing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of sexually assaulting a student. That video had 5 million views on X in less than 24 hours. The same group has run videos that spoof Fox News, the FBI and Wired magazine, the Threat Center said.

Unlike Russia, China is targeting down-ballot Republican candidates in the coming election, all of whom have publicly criticized the People’s Republic of China, according to Microsoft. The targets include Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala.; Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas; Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.