World News – UA – US voter data shared on hacker forums

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October 22, 2020

A database containing information on nearly all of America’s electoral population has been released on hacker forums, paving the way for disinformation and scams that could impact the November 3 election, according to security researchers

A report released on Wednesday by security firm Trustwave said its researchers « discovered huge databases with detailed information on US voters and consumers offered for sale on several hacker forums »

The databases « include a shocking level of detail about citizens, including their political affiliation, » and the vendors claim they have 186 million records, which would mean nearly every American voter, researchers said. security in a blog post

« The information in the voter database can be used to carry out effective social engineering scams and spread disinformation to potentially impact elections, especially in swing states, » said message from Trustwave analysts Ziv Mador and Nikita Kazymirskyi

Analysts said at least some of the data came from public documents, but other information appears to come from data leaks or breaches

The researchers said they also discovered other databases on the entire U.S. consumer population and residents of Britain, Canada, Ireland and South Africa

Cybercriminals appear to be working « to monetize the next election » in the United States, the researchers added, by selling databases that include the addresses, age, gender and political affiliation of American voters, and phone numbers in some cases

The news comes a day after US officials say Russia and Iran obtained voter information and took action to influence public opinion, including through ‘fake’ emails  » intended to intimidate voters and create unrest

© 2020 AFP

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Computer security, US presidential election, 2020, news