WaPo – Microsoft says it has found a Russian operation targeting U.S. political institutions

Microsoft says it has found a Russian operation targeting U.S. political institutions
Washington Post, August 21, 2018, by Elizabeth Dwoskin and Craig Timberg

A group affiliated with the Russian government created phony versions of six websites — including some related to public policy and to the U.S. Senate — with the apparent goal of hacking into the computers of people who were tricked into visiting, according to Microsoft, which said Monday night that it discovered and disabled the fake sites.

Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit took the lead role in finding and disabling the sites, and the company is launching an effort to provide expanded cybersecurity protection for campaigns and election agencies that use Microsoft products.