Facebook and FireEye Detect More Foreign Interference with US Midterms
Facebook announced in July that it had removed 32 accounts, pages, and groups from its social media platform and Instagram for attempting to influence the U.S. midterm elections. Apparently that wasn't enough to dissuade whoever is behind the efforts: the company announced on August 21 that the number of removed accounts rose to 652 after FireEye researchers discovered an "influence operation" on the platforms.
FireEye said the operation targeted people in the UK, Latin America, and the Middle East as well as the U.S. The company loosely attributed this operation to Iran--it assessed "with moderate confidence that this activity originates from Iranian actors"--and said it was used to "promote political narratives in line with Iranian interests." But attributing these operations is finicky, so FireEye was careful not to definitively blame Iran.
Facebook was more certain about the culprit, as was Twitter when it announced that it too had suspended 248 accounts for "engaging in coordinated manipulation." Facebook's head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, said in an update to the July blog post:
"We are able to link this network to Iranian state media through publicly available website registration information, as well as the use of related IP addresses and Facebook Pages sharing the same admins. For example, one part of the network, 'Quest 4 Truth,' claims to be an independent Iranian media organization, but is in fact linked to Press TV, an English-language news network affiliated with Iranian state media."
Both companies said there doesn't appear to be a connection between Iran's operation and Russia's efforts to influence foreign politics via social media platforms. Instead, both countries have apparently decided that covertly manipulating foreign policies via tools like Facebook and Instagram is the best way to realize their political goals, and there's no telling how many other governments will end up duplicating these tactics.
But not finding a connection between this operation and Russia doesn't mean Facebook hasn't been busy with Putin & Co. Gleicher said:
"Finally, we’ve removed Pages, groups and accounts that can be linked to sources the US government has previously identified as Russian military intelligence services. This is unrelated to the activities we found in Iran. While these are some of the same bad actors we removed for cybersecurity attacks before the 2016 US election, this more recent activity focused on politics in Syria and Ukraine."
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Facebook and FireEye made their revelations shortly after Microsoft announced that it had disrupted a Russia-linked hacking group's efforts to influence Republicans by spoofing the websites of popular think tanks and the U.S. Senate. Don't be surprised to hear more about these attempts to meddle with foreign politics between now and November--or in perpetuity. This is fast starting to seem like it's going to be the new "normal."
Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.
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therickmu25 Facebook and other tech giants have done more to influence the US mid-term elections than any of the 6 Iranian accounts or 2 dozen Russian accounts ever could.Reply -
ihexiti the irony is strong here.Reply
since before 911 america has been exacting actual regime change by bombing countries back to the stone age so american companies can build pipelines to serve Europe there gas.
while washington has been doing this, american politicians all over the country have been trying to gerrymander voting districts. reduce people of colours ability to vote by introducing anti voter fraud measures for a problem that doesnt exist but gives more control over who votes for who...
yet we have the media telling us that russia is the real badguy and is influencing american elections via facebook adds... >.<
and guess whats getting the most attention... not the criminal activities of there own leaders thats for sure. -
mossberg Having an ID to vote is not restricting anyone's right to vote. You have to have an ID open a checking account, apply for any kind of loan, government assistance, rent a car, check into a hotel, ect. Having voter ID prevents people that shouldn't be voting, from voting. Voter fraud exists, and is a problem.Reply
That said, I agree, the whole Russian influence thing, is just a big media distraction. -
sykozis Reply21255001 said:Having an ID to vote is not restricting anyone's right to vote. You have to have an ID open a checking account, apply for any kind of loan, government assistance, rent a car, check into a hotel, ect. Having voter ID prevents people that shouldn't be voting, from voting. Voter fraud exists, and is a problem.
That said, I agree, the whole Russian influence thing, is just a big media distraction.
Voter fraud does exist, you're right. You're also right that it's a problem. However, there is no evidence to suggest that voter fraud exists on the level necessary to sway an election.
I agree, having an ID does not restrict anyone's right to vote. However, failing to inform people that they have been removed from voter logs, closing facilities that issue ID's and provide voter registration services in low income areas or areas that are predominantly "non-white", etc, does restrict the ability of someone to vote. If someone doesn't know that they are no longer registered to vote, how are they supposed to re-register? If someone lacks the funds necessary to pay for an Uber or Lyft or cab to get to a facility to obtain an ID or register to vote, how are they supposed to register or vote? These are things that have actually taken place in this country and are actually become more wide spread. There has been a massive push for voter suppression in this country over the last (almost) 10 years. Redistricting to heavily favor a certain political party has also become a major problem. These are problems that can actually be proven, unlike the claim of voter fraud being so rampant as to change the outcome of an election.
None of that means that foreign governments trying to sway voters isn't a problem though. -
organicsone Liar, Liar! PANTS ON FIRE!Reply
Kris Kobach has been on a voter fraud campaign for more than a decade. In all that time he's found 11 legitimate cases of voter fraud!!!
Those same eleven cases were the basis for his voter fraud commission established earlier this year in the Trump White House. The commission lasted about as long as a Trump promise. It imploded because IT was a FRAUD! -
cryoburner Reply21256729 said:Stuff
Ah, I see you two decided to register today at this popular tech site to make your very first posts about voter manipulation at popular websites. Welcome!21256912 said:Other stuff
Hmm... >_> -
mikeinkg Please elaborate further on the closing of facilities that issue valid voter ID's in predominantly non-white, low income areas. The only facilities, in any state, that you may receive a valid government issued identification card from are government facilities (go figure). I don't live in a predominately low income area and, low and behold, there are no facilities issuing these ID's near me either. I'm forced to travel over 30 miles to get mine and nobody is complaining about that.Reply