Iranian hackers suspected of emailing threatening messages to U.S. voters last week and spreading false information about compromised election systems ran a disinformation campaign last year targeting the Middle East, Facebook Inc said on Tuesday.
FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed Facebook logo is seen placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
28 Oct 2020 10:40AM
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LONDON: Iranian hackers suspected of emailing threatening messages to U.S. voters last week and spreading false information about compromised election systems ran a disinformation campaign last year targeting the Middle East, Facebook Inc said on Tuesday.
U.S. officials blamed Iran last week for thousands of threatening emails and an online video that purported to show hackers breaking into a voter registration system just days before the U.S. presidential election. Tehran has denied the allegations.
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Facebook said it had suspended one fake account which attempted to share the video on its site. That account in turn led to more than 20 other accounts on Facebook and Instagram, revealing a dormant disinformation operation that had targeted countries including Israel and Saudi Arabia in 2019, the company said.
Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of cybersecurity policy, said the newly-discovered accounts were largely inactive, but had previously attempted to spread claims about an "alleged massacre" at last year's Eurovision Song Contest in Israel.
U.S. intelligence agencies are still analysing who exactly in Iran commanded the operation and its intent, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters last week.
Gleicher said on Tuesday his team found a small number of technical links to a disinformation network suspended in April that was ..
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