Cybersecurity specialists reported that a threat actor is selling confidential information from around 200,000 U.S. citizens on the dark web, including the records of 180,000 voters, in what many fear is part of a foreign intervention campaign in the upcoming presidential election.
The report, submitted by security firm Trustwave, mentioned that the records exposed include data such as:
- Full names
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
- Voter registrations
Ziv Mador, Trustwave’s vice president of security and responsible for the investigation, points to the serious problem posed by this incident: “Both local cybercriminals and threat actors abroad could make malicious use of this information.” According to Mador, if this information falls into the wrong hands, voters could be exposed to severe disinformation, phishing, phone scams, among others.
These records appear to be a combination of leaked information in previous incidents and data available on government websites, as voter information is publicly accessible in most U.S. states, experts mention. About the person responsible for the illegal sale of this data, Trustwave mentions that it is a hacker identified as Greenmoon2019, who offers full access to the compromised information in exchange for a cryptocurrency transfer.
On the other hand John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence, mentions that this leak could be linked to Iran, as it is known that groups sponsored by Iran obtained voter information in order to send threatening emails to a section of the Democratic Party posing as members of the white supremacist group Proud Boys. Ratcliffe also mentions that the Russian government has deployed similar campaigns, especially in election times.
Specialists shared their findings with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which has already begun investigating the incident: “We are committed to finding the source of this leak; at the moment we cannot share further details, but we want to assure U.S. citizens that the FBI will work to safeguard this important electoral process.”
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
