WASHINGTON (AP) — A presidential candidate's phone is hacked. A fake video falsely shows ballots burned in Pennsylvania. National security officials warn that U.S. adversaries may incite violent protests after Election Day.
— all revealed in the past week — show how Russia, China and Iran have increased the pace of efforts to meddle in American politics ahead of next month's election, just as intelligence officials and security analysts .
At the same time, officials, and private researchers have adopted a more aggressive defense by swiftly exposing foreign election threats, from past election cycles that revealed America's vulnerability to disinformation and cyberespionage.
Officials say that no foreign nation could alter the results at a scale necessary to change the outcome. Nevertheless, authoritarian adversaries have leveraged disinformation and cyberespionage to target campaigns and voters while stoking distrust and discord.
Here's what to know as the presidential election approaches:
Russia is the top threat
Russia is the most active and sophisticated nation working to manipulate the U.S. election, using , state-controlled media and to spread misleading and polarizing content aimed at undermining confidence in elections.
The Kremlin's disinformation apparatus seizes on contentious issues like , crime, the economy or . The goal is to weaken the U.S., erode support for Ukraine as it fights off Russian invaders and reduce America's ability to counter Russia's growing ties to , and , officials have said.
Intelligence officials and private security analysts have determined that , and is using disinformation — sometimes AI-generated — to smear his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggested cutting funds to Ukraine and repeatedly .
In one particularly audacious campaign, Russia staged a video that falsely accused Harris of paralyzing a woman in a car crash years ago. Another video made against Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
On Friday, the FBI confirmed Moscow's role in creating a supposedly showing the destruction of mail ballots in Pennsylvania. Local election officials quickly debunked the video as false.
Russia also has who spread the Kremlin’s preferred narratives. Last month, U.S. authorities accused of funneling $10 million to a Tennessee company to create pro-Russian content. The company then paid several popular right-wing influencers, who have said they had .
Moscow’s campaign . Instead, intelligence officials and private security analysts predict Russia will exploit claims of election irregularities to suggest the results can’t be trusted. A said Russia may also encourage violent protests after the election.
“Putin’s aim is to foment chaos, division and polarization in our society,†said Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia who now teaches at Stanford University.
Russia has rejected claims that it seeks to influence the U.S. election. A message left with Russia's embassy in Washington was not immediately returned Saturday.
Iranian hack-and-leak operations
in foreign interference this year.
It's and offering the stolen communications to media organizations and Democrats in hopes that damaging stories would emerge that could hurt the Republican's prospects. were sent to people associated with President Joe Biden’s campaign, but there’s no indication anyone replied, officials have said.
The Justice Department last month who remain at large, accusing them of a yearslong operation targeting a vast array of victims.
U.S. officials have described the hacking as part of a broader effort to interfere in an election that Iran perceives as particularly consequential. Iran, they say, has made clear its opposition to the Trump campaign. His administration , reimposed sanctions and ordered the , an act prompting Iran's leaders to vow revenge.
In addition to the cyberoperations, U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed concern about the potential for Iran to carry out violence on U.S. soil against Trump or other members of his administration. Officials in 2022 brought charges in a foiled Iranian plot to , John Bolton, and this year charged in a plot to carry out political assassinations in the U.S., including potentially of Trump.
Leaders in Tehran also may try to encourage violent protests after the election, according to the declassified intelligence memo. Authorities say Iran also covertly over Israel's war in Gaza.
Iranian authorities have dismissed allegations that the country is seeking to influence the election. Iran's mission to the United Nations released a statement this week saying, “Iran neither has any motive nor intent to interfere in the U.S. election.â€
A neutral China?
U.S. intelligence officials believe China is taking in the election and is , targeting candidates from both parties based on their positions on issues of key importance to Beijing, including .
But the Chinese government has for years operated a sophisticated hacking operation targeting all manners of Western life and industry that goes well beyond election influence.
“From city council to president, they want access,†said Adam Darrah, a former CIA political analyst who is now vice president of intelligence at the cybersecurity firm ZeroFox, which tracks foreign online threats.
On Friday, as part of a much broader espionage effort had targeted cellphones used by Trump, his running mate JD Vance and people associated with Harris' campaign. It was not immediately clear what data, if any, had been accessed.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said they were unfamiliar with the details and couldn't comment but contended that China is routinely victimized by cyberattacks and opposes the activity.
Are these tactics new?
Hardly. Foreign adversaries, including the same ones blamed for meddling now, have sought to interfere in the last several election cycles — with varying degrees of success.
But the U.S. government, blamed for sitting on information about the scope of Russian interference in the 2016 election, has worked this year to aggressively call out foreign threats as part of an effort to reduce their impact and assure Americans that the election is secure.
In 2016, Russian military intelligence officers of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman and the Democratic Party and released tens of thousands of communications in an effort to boost Trump's successful presidential campaign.
Russia also engaged that year in a aimed at sowing discord on hot-button social issues, creating division in the American electoral process and harming Clinton's bid for president.
The antics continued in the 2020 election cycle when a Ukrainian lawmaker described at the time by U.S. officials †released audio recordings of Democrat Joe Biden, who was then running for president.
That same year, purported to come from the far-right group The Proud Boys that officials said were designed to harm Trump's candidacy.
