Election interlopers register 5K+ domains, hope to catch some voting phish
Hacking voting machines is so 2017. Phishing, impersonation pose the real election risks
The biggest threat to America’s midterm elections in November likely isn’t foreign attackers hacking US voting machines. Phishing and election-official impersonation are the bigger risks, according to Check Point, which documented more than 5,000 election-themed domains registered between April and May.These domains can be used by attackers for phishing, impersonation, fraud, misinformation, or influence activity, especially when coupled with about 17,000 exposed credentials associated with fundraising orgs, political parties, and government-related services also spotted by the security shop’s intelligence arm in May."Election-related domains and leaked credentials represent two sides of the same problem: infrastructure and access," Danielle Hess, a cyber threat intelligence analyst at Check Point Software, told The Register.
"A rise in election-themed domains not only creates more potential infrastructure that could be abused for phishing or impersonation, but also reflects a growing election-related ecosystem with more organizations, accounts, and users that can be targeted," Hess said. "When combined with a large pool of exposed credentials, attackers have more opportunities to conduct convincing and scalable election-related operations."
