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Microsoft Data Shows Hackers Still Targeting U.S. Elections


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A hacker at work.

A Microsoft official said in a recent blog post that nearly 10,000 state-sponsored hacking attempts have been detected globally in the past year.

Credit: gmanews.tv

A recent blog post from Microsoft indicates that nearly 10,000 state-sponsored attacks have been detected globally in the past year, with 781 targeting democracy-focused groups such as non-governmental organizations and think tanks.

About 95% of the attacks targeted organizations based in the U.S.

Microsoft's Tom Burt said the company's data "demonstrates the significant extent to which nation-states continue to rely on cyberattacks as a tool to gain intelligence, influence geopolitics, and achieve other objectives."

However, neither Microsoft nor the Trump administration have disclosed any successful breaches of campaigns or election systems related to the 2020 U.S. election to date.

Microsoft will soon begin a pilot project with Columbia University to test the software giant's ElectionGuard system for the 2020 election, allowing voters to track their ballots on personal devices.

From Bloomberg
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Abstracts Copyright © 2019 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA


 

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