Russia's election infrastructure hit by wave of cyberattacks, AI groups suspected

Russia's parliamentary election process is currently underway, and the country's election machinery has faced large-scale cyberattacks during this period. Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia's Central Election Commission, gave details of the attacks. According to her, more than a thousand waves of DDoS-type attacks were recorded against infrastructure linked to the election process. She also said artificial intelligence, or AI-based tools, were used in these attacks.

Pamfilova said the main targets of the attacks were election-related web servers, online voting services and telecommunications networks. Large-scale DDoS attacks were carried out on all three types of systems, she noted. Russian officials say the aim of the attacks was to disrupt the working of the election machinery and slow down online services. However, the Russian administration has also claimed that the attacks did not bring the election process to a complete halt. The administration says the election machinery withstood the attacks and continued to function smoothly overall.

Pamfilova noted that the attacks were carried out by groups working in a highly professional and coordinated manner. She estimated that these groups may have used AI technology as well as modern digital tools for the attacks. Russian officials also said some of the attacks originated from abroad. However, there has been no independent confirmation yet of exactly which group or which country is behind the attacks, so the identity of the attackers remains unclear.

Russian officials had earlier said that on the second day of the election, Moscow's remote electronic voting system suffered a large-scale cyberattack overnight. Reports say this caused delays for some users trying to access the online voting system. This means Moscow's online voting system was also a major target of these attacks.

Even so, Russia's election commission has clarified that the system is functioning smoothly. This has brought a new challenge, cyberattacks, sharply into focus alongside the usual political contest in Russia's current election.