Google has issued a new warning to the family members of political candidates that they could be the target of foreign-sponsored cyber attacks.
This comes after Google said a few weeks ago that a group linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard attempted to infiltrate personal email accounts of about a dozen people linked to GOP nominee Donald Trump and President Joe Biden just since May.
The threat intelligence arm of Google said that the hacking group is still trying to target people who are associated with the president and with the two presidential candidates in Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
But, it’s not just the candidates themselves and members of their campaigns that need to be concerned, and it’s not just Iran that might sponsor those hacking groups. Family members and close personal associates of candidates need to be aware of potential hacking attempts, too, as hackers seek to gain access to the campaigns in any way possible.
All of this comes following a summit that Google held in Fulton Market in July, at which attendees said political campaigns should prioritize cybersecurity as the General Election draws nearer.
Michael Kaiser, the president of the non-partisan Defending Digital Campaigns, told Axios that this upcoming election could be more vulnerable to cyberattacks than any other one in history.
That’s due, at least in part, to the fact that artificial intelligence tools are on the rise, with deep fakes prominent and having the potential to play a huge role in influence campaigns.
Elon Musk, the owner of the social media platform X, was even accused this month of spreading a fake video that showed Harris allegedly going off on Biden.
Not long after Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, many fake fundraising emails were sent, saying they were trying to raise money for her campaign. Leading up to the New Hampshire primary earlier this year, there were deep fake robocalls that impersonated Biden’s voice, as well as fake direct mailers sent out.
DDC partnered with Google to host the summit in Chicago last month so that campaign operatives, cybersecurity professionals and politicians could come together to discuss the issues with hardware and software experts.
The non-profit group that offers free or low-cost digital security tools to political campaigns, is primarily funded by Microsoft and Google.
According to a survey the DDC conducted of 2,000 registered voters, 42% of donors to political parties would consider not making a donation if a campaign was hacked. The survey also found that 30% of voters said they might even consider voting for a different candidate if there were a major security breach.
In a statement, Kaiser explained:
“In this critical election year, trust in the digital integrity of political campaigns both nationwide and at the state level is more important than ever.”
DDC received permission from the Federal Election Commission to work directly with federal party committees, presidential campaigns and many campaigns for the U.S. Senate and House.
The organization said it was still trying to get approval from state election officials so they could provide their free cybersecurity tools to down-ballot races as well.
