ZeroFox Intelligence Assessment - Influence Campaigns Ahead of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Elections

Product Serial: A-2024-03-22a

TLP:CLEAR

In this assessment, ZeroFox Intelligence researchers outline online influence campaigns identified ahead of the 2024 U.S. Presidential elections.

Standing Intelligence Requirements

Geopolitical and Physical GEO

For the most up-to-date list of ZeroFox’s Intelligence Requirements, please visit:

https://cloud.zerofox.com/intelligence/advisories/14956

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View the full report here.

Executive Summary

Harmful information is expected to be produced and promulgated online at an unprecedented scale in the run-up to the U.S. Presidential election in November 2024. Adversarial nation states, politically motivated cyber threat actors, and members of the public will almost certainly be responsible for the dissemination of election-related misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation-exacerbating simmering social, political, and geopolitical issues across all sectors of society. This, either intentionally or unintentionally–is expected to make it increasingly difficult to discern fact from fiction.
The extent to which this harmful information is spread to influence the election outcome varies. Some online contributors will almost certainly unwittingly share inaccurate statistics, out-of-date information, or unknowingly engage with posts that the original source knows to be false. However, other threat actors are expected to actively engage in falsifying information, leaking sensitive information, and otherwise trying to shape the outcome of the election.
While at the time of writing, ZeroFox has not identified any indication of active election interference campaigns, activity very likely consistent with attempts to influence the outcome of the U.S. Presidential elections has already been identified on social media.
Individuals and organizations must proactively adopt responsible information consumption practices, as well as monitor for sensitive data disclosures online. Tools and resources are available that can assist in verifying the legitimacy of content, and digital risk protection services can assist in identifying and mitigating the spread of sensitive information should such disclosures occur.
This report should be read in conjunction with ‘ZeroFox Intelligence Brief - Demystifying Harmful Online Information, B-2022-09-09a’.