Cyber Threats from Iranian APT Actors to U.S. Electoral Integrity
- Actor Motivations: Disinformation,Sabotage
- Attack Vectors: DDoS,Cross-Site Scripting,Defacement,SQL injection,Vulnerability Exploitation
- Attack Complexity: Medium
- Threat Risk: High Impact/High Probability
Threat Overview
Iranian APTs are suspected of attempting to disrupt the U.S. electoral process to undermine public confidence and create discord among voters. These activities have included the creation of fictitious and spoofed media sites to distribute misinformation about voter issues, utilizing voter-registration data, and spreading anti-American sentiments. The APT groups have exploited critical vulnerabilities such as CVE-2020-5902 and CVE-2017-9248, impacting VPNs and content management systems, to conduct distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, SQL injection attacks, spear-phishing campaigns, website defacements, and disinformation campaigns.
Detected Targets
| Type | Description | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Government Agencies and Services | Verified |
| Region | United States | Verified |
Exploited Vulnerabilities
FAQs
Iranian Cyber Threats to U.S. Election Systems
U.S. authorities have identified ongoing attempts by Iranian cyber actors to disrupt the electoral process through hacking, disinformation, and website interference.
The activity is attributed to Iranian advanced persistent threat (APT) actors—groups known for state-aligned, long-term cyber operations targeting U.S. infrastructure and institutions.
Their primary aim is to influence voter perception, create confusion, and undermine public trust in the legitimacy and security of the U.S. electoral system.
Attackers exploited software flaws, sent deceptive phishing emails, manipulated public websites, and spread false stories via spoofed news outlets and social media.
Yes, election-related infrastructure, public-facing websites, media content systems, and voter data were all targeted or exploited in this campaign.
Elections are central to democracy, and undermining them can erode public confidence, polarize citizens, and serve foreign geopolitical interests.
Regularly update systems, train staff to recognize phishing, monitor for suspicious activity, and verify the integrity of public-facing information.
While targeted, the techniques used (like phishing and disinformation) can have wide-reaching effects, impacting public perception nationally—even beyond the systems directly attacked.