Cyberattackers Unleash Flood of Potentially Disruptive Election-Related Activity

Organizations should be on high alert until next month's US presidential election to ensure the integrity of the voting process, researchers warn.

Dark Reading, Staff & Contributors

October 17, 2024

1 Min Read
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Cyber-threat actors have ramped up their targeting of the 2024 US elections with a flood of malicious activity expected to peak over the next month, aimed at causing disruption to voters and the election process and requiring increased vigilance on the part of stakeholders.

Specifically, attackers have bolstered election-related threat activity since the beginning of the year with an increase in the sale of phishing kits targeting US voters and campaign donors; the registration of more than 1,000 domains aimed at exploiting election-related content for malicious purposes; and increased ransomware activity targeting government entities, according to research from FortiGuard Labs Threat Research released today.

Since the inception of Internet-related threats, cyber-threat actors have typically increased malicious activity ahead of elections, notes Derek Manky, chief security strategist and vice president of global threat intelligence at Fortinet. However, they aim to be especially disruptive during the current election cycle, requiring that all stakeholders be prepared to fend off malicious actors in the upcoming weeks to protect election outcomes.

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