Chinese hackers may use AI anchors, memes to target Lok Sabha polls: Microsoft report | India News

As national elections approach in India, South Korea, and the United States, Chinese cyber and influence operatives, along with North Korean cyber agents to a certain degree, are likely to focus their efforts on interfering with these electoral processes, a Microsoft analysis has said.
India is set to embark on a comprehensive seven-phase voting process from April 19 to June 1 to choose the 543 members of its 18th Lok Sabha.The Lok Sabha election polls are slated for April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1, with Bihar, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh conducting voting across all seven stages. The results will be announced on June 4, 2024.
Sophisticated influence operations
In a detailed analysis by Microsoft Threat Intelligence, it has been revealed that Chinese cyber and influence actors have been actively engaging in espionage and influence operations across various regions.
Chinese influence campaigns have refined their techniques, utilizing AI-generated content to stir divisions within the United States and exacerbate rifts in the Asia-Pacific region, including Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. These campaigns, leveraging AI-generated memes and audio content, have targeted both domestic issues in the US and geopolitical tensions in Asia.
AI-generate news anchors and memes
AI-generated news anchors, produced by third-party technology firms using ByteDance’s CapCut tool, have been featured in numerous campaigns, including those about Taiwanese officials and issues in Myanmar. Since at least February 2023, the actor known as Storm-1376 has significantly increased its use of these AI-created news anchors. This method of using AI to manipulate videos has been previously employed against the same dissident. Moreover, Storm-1376 launched a collection of AI-crafted memes targeting William Lai, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate in Taiwan’s presidential race, presenting a countdown to remove the DPP from power, the Microsoft report said.

As per the Microsoft report, on the day of Taiwan’s election, Storm-1376 released what are believed to be AI-generated audio clips featuring the voice of Terry Gou, owner of Foxconn and a former independent candidate in Taiwan’s presidential election, who withdrew from the race in November 2023. These audio clips falsely depicted Gou endorsing another presidential candidate. It’s highly likely that Gou’s voice was synthesized using AI, as he did not make any such endorsement. YouTube promptly addressed and limited the spread of this misleading content before it could reach a wide audience.
“China will, at a minimum, create and amplify AI-generated content that benefits their positions in these high-profile elections. While the impact of such content in swaying audiences remains low, China’s increasing experimentation in augmenting memes, videos, and audio will continue—and may prove effective down the line,” the Microsoft analysis said.