Microsoft Takes Anti-Hacking Position to Help Thwart Potential Attacks Against U.S. Midterm Election Process

There's no doubt that this year's U.S. midterm elections will draw criticism in one form or another before and after all is said and done. Despite the expected criticism from many sides, tech giants, such as Microsoft, are taking a position to help thwart the potential actions of Russian hackers who may meddle in the democratic process of the midterm elections.

This week, Microsoft Corp. initiated a broad public announcement to initiate the seizure of web domains that are utilized to send out phishing emails from hackers who are linked to Russian sources. Such actions are believed to be an attempt to meddle in the midterm elections during November 2018, which could have dire consequences not only in the democratic election process but the backlash from those on either side of the political spectrum in believing that the outcome of the election was not a fair process.

Already, we have seen cases where cybercrooks from a group dubbed as Strontium masquerading on the Internet and social media networks as a supposed conservative organization. The purposes of Strontium look to be a calculated effort to cause division within the Republican political party and others who may see the move as an attack on the U.S. elections, once again.

Microsoft has always been a major tech giant to reckon with when it comes to cybersecurity. However, in their recent approach to taking a strong anti-hacking position during the midterms shows a newfound adherence to do the right thing in a time where many feel as if the government isn't doing enough to thwart potential cyberattacks.

Microsoft leads and other tech-giants follow in anti-hacking efforts

In the past, many tech giants responsible for having a platform for Russian cyberattackers against the U.S. election process, such as Facebook and Twitter, were slow to recognize their role that their platforms had in the spread of misinformation during the 2016 presidential election. Reportedly, as we all know now, the Russians had a hand in the spread of misinformation on social media platforms in 2016 and have started doing the same leading up to the 2018 midterms.

With Microsoft taking the lead in the efforts to combat Russian hacking and meddling, we are starting to see others take more of an active role in removing suspicious content on their platforms. Though, such tasks aren't easy as hackers utilize more sophisticated methods to attack outlets like Facebook and Twitter through clever social engineering techniques. As an answer to the attacks, tech giants have hired thousands of security experts and content moderators to help detect issues to proactively coordinate with governments to resolve them before they propagate.

Phishing attacks grow with looming elections in multi-faced attack efforts by hackers

The phishing attack efforts by hackers appear to be an attack method that they are heavily relying on during the midterms. As an answer to those actions, Google is one tech giant that is warning customers to take Gmail warnings about phishing attacks seriously. Regardless of the confirmations of Russian hacker influence, a dozen of other countries may hold some blame in sophisticated attacks.

Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said in an interview that, "This is a moment in time where we should reflect as a nation that 21st century democracy will flourish only if we take new steps to protect it," he continued to say as an push for tech companies to step up efforts to protect democracy that, "These steps cannot be confined to one political party or to people in government. We have to come together across the tech sector and in partnership with democratic governments around the world."

The actions of Microsoft paving the way for other tech companies to help in the efforts to protect democracy as we know it could be viewed many ways or as simple as being a civic duty rather than support for a particular political party. Departing from the pollical views, Microsoft's actions may also be an effort to prevent trust in technology being undermined, which could potentially impact business on many fronts.

Ultimately, as Smith points out in his recent interview, the Microsoft is in the business of ensuring the cybersecurity of our customers. If taken at face value, one could conclude that Microsoft isn't taking any political sides but rather putting country over party. Either way, we're just happy that someone is taking up the ropes to address the need for more cybersecurity.