WASHINGTON — Iran and Russia have each obtained American voter registration knowledge, and Tehran used it to ship threatening, faked emails to voters that had been aimed toward influencing the presidential election, prime nationwide safety officers introduced on Wednesday night.
There was no indication that any election outcome tallies had been modified or that details about who’s registered to vote was altered, each of which might threaten to change precise votes, stated John Ratcliffe, the director of nationwide intelligence, and Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, in an look on the bureau’s headquarters.
And it was not clear that both nation hacked into voter registration methods. Some voter data, together with celebration registration, is public, and voters’ names might have been merged with different figuring out materials like e mail addresses that’s obtainable in different databases, in response to intelligence officers, together with some bought by felony hacking networks on the “darkish internet.”
Nonetheless, the announcement {that a} overseas adversary, Iran, had tried to affect the election by sending intimidating emails was a stark warning. Among the spoofed emails, despatched to Democratic voters, presupposed to be from pro-Trump far-right teams, together with the Proud Boys.
It was not clear what Iran’s intentions had been. Mr. Ratcliffe stated the trouble was aimed toward hurting President Trump, and intelligence officers have stated Iran opposes the president’s re-election. But when the emails had the impact of intimidating Democrats, they may even have damage Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic nominee.
“This knowledge can be utilized by overseas actors to try to speak false data to registered voters that they hope will trigger confusion, sow chaos and undermine your confidence in American democracy,” Mr. Ratcliffe stated.
He additionally stated Iran was circulating a video that was pushing disinformation about fraudulent ballots being solid abroad.
It is a growing story. Test again for updates.
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