US election 2024 – FBI warning about fake election videos

The FBI was also called in to investigate a separate incident involving a fake video purporting to show ballots being destroyed in Pennsylvania. The video, posted on X, formerly Twitter, appears to show a person reviewing mail-in ballots and ripping out votes for Donald Trump while retaining votes for Kamala Harris. Those sharing the video claim that it shows an employee at a polling place in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The clip was viewed at least 155,000 times in about 12 hours. Previously, federal cybersecurity and intelligence officials said a viral video purporting to show Haitian immigrants engaging in voter fraud was created by Russian interference groups seeking to undermine confidence in the U.S. election undermine. The video, which began circulating on social media this week, shows two men who claim to have come to the United States from Haiti six months ago. They claim to have American citizenship and vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in several Georgia counties, displaying cards that look like driver's licenses. Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told MSNBC on Friday that the video was “produced in Russia and designed specifically to go viral and undermine American confidence in the security and integrity of our election.” The experts warn against misinformation activities, “fake news” and influence campaigns.

Security (USA), a Los Angeles-based cybersecurity company protecting Fortune 100 companies and government agencies worldwide, recognized a significant increase in the distribution of political content related to the 2024 US elections via social networks, particularly from foreign jurisdictions. Social media can create echo chambers where users are primarily exposed to information that reinforces their existing beliefs. This phenomenon can polarize public opinion because individuals are less likely to be confronted with opposing viewpoints. Such environments can reinforce partisan divisions and influence voter behavior by entrenching prejudices. Resecurity has identified several for-sale accounts on Telegram that impersonate government entities, including the White House, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as popular media outlets such as CNN and The Washington Post. One of the accounts impersonating Donald Trump, “DonaldTrump_feedback,” was also put up for sale. Accounts under the name Kamala Harris were also put up for sale. The accounts were listed for sale on Fragment, a marketplace for Telegram accounts. Several Telegram accounts have been identified with the US election narrative; They have been registered and offered for sale between 10 TONNES ($51) and 2028 TONNES ($2290). Such reports will be of great interest to political consulting firms and foreign opponents seeking to target a specific audience.

Currently, the accounts spread content aimed at shaping negative opinions about political candidates and discrediting US elections. Resecurity identified several affiliated groups that promoted the “Echo” narrative, regardless of the group’s primary profile. For example, a group dedicated to supporting the Democratic Party contained opposing and discrediting content. One of the key goals of foreign adversaries is to stoke social polarization and mistrust about the integrity of the elections. This is a crucial part of these campaigns. Often these campaigns promote and discourage both candidates, as they do not aim to promote one candidate over the other. They want to sow distrust in the electoral process and stir up hostility among the losing candidate's voters toward the winning candidate and his supporters. Similar identified accounts are being used to target Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, and Maia Sandu, the president of Moldova.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security matters – Hacking, US election 2024)