WASHINGTON — Iran and Russia have each obtained American voter registration knowledge, and Tehran used it to ship threatening, faked emails to vote
WASHINGTON — Iran and Russia have each obtained American voter registration knowledge, and Tehran used it to ship threatening, faked emails to voters that have been geared toward influencing the presidential election, high nationwide safety officers introduced on Wednesday night.
There was no indication that any election consequence tallies have been modified or that details about who’s registered to vote was altered, each of which might threaten to change precise votes, stated John Ratcliffe, the director of nationwide intelligence, and Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, in an look on the bureau’s headquarters.
And it was not clear that both nation hacked into voter registration methods. Some voter data, together with celebration registration, is public, and voters’ names might have been merged with different figuring out materials like electronic mail addresses that’s obtainable in different databases, in response to intelligence officers, together with some offered by felony hacking networks on the “darkish net.”
Nonetheless, the announcement {that a} international adversary, Iran, had tried to affect the election by sending intimidating emails was a stark warning. A few of the spoofed emails, despatched to Democratic voters, presupposed to be from pro-Trump far-right teams, together with the Proud Boys.
It was not clear what Iran’s intentions have been. Mr. Ratcliffe stated the hassle was geared toward hurting President Trump, and intelligence officers have stated Iran opposes the president’s re-election. But when the emails had the impact of intimidating Democrats, they may even have harm Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic nominee.
“This knowledge can be utilized by international actors to try to speak false data to registered voters that they hope will trigger confusion, sow chaos and undermine your confidence in American democracy,” Mr. Ratcliffe stated.
He additionally stated Iran was circulating a video that was pushing disinformation about fraudulent ballots being solid abroad.
This can be a growing story. Examine again for updates.