Naeblys/iStock(NEW YORK) — The United States, already dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, is also being targeted for cyberattacks and foreign disinformation campaigns, as federal officials feared.
Multiple sources confirmed to ABC News in recent days that both the efforts that slowed computer systems at the Health and Human Services Department Sunday night and the weekend rash of bogus text messages warning a national quarantine is imminent were the products of foreign actors or components of foreign governments or entities connected to them.
“We are seeing multiple disinformation campaigns right now,” said one federal official briefed on the situation.
The two types of cyber incidents are different, but both are aimed at sowing panic in the American population and feeding distrust in government, according to intelligence officials. Federal officials said the two most likely perpetrators are Russia and China, two nations with the sophistication, skill and desire to carry out such campaigns against the U.S.
Residents in New York City, Washington D.C., Boston, Kansas and the West Coast were bombarded by text messages sending out realistic-looking warnings about an impending shutdown of public and government services because of the outbreak. Those messages drew swift response from local authorities, who declared the messages as bogus.
In New York City, the messages spread like wildfire and told people to stock up on money and food because bridges, tunnels and mass transit would be shutting down — again, a report that required intervention from authorities.
Other mass texts warned of the president enacting a national quarantine — also false.
Authorities warn that no matter how official an email or text message may look, verify its source and if the information is accurate before passing it onto others.
Meanwhile, China’s government has been aggressively pushing propaganda that blames the West for the pandemic, though the virus was first identified in Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province.
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