NEW YORK — Foreign adversaries have demonstrated a continued determination to influence U.S. elections — and there are signs their activity will intensify as Election Day approaches, Microsoft said in a report Wednesday.

Russian agents are increasing fake videos to smear Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, while China-linked social media campaigns smear candidates criticized for China, the intelligence branch said Wednesday on business threats.

Meanwhile, Iranian actors who allegedly sent emails aimed at intimidating U.S. voters in 2020 have questioned election-related websites and major media outlets, raising concerns that they may be preparing for another scheme this year , said the tech giant.

The report serves as a warning — building on others from U.S. intelligence officials — that as the country enters this critical final stretch and begins counting ballots, the worst influence efforts could be yet to come. U.S. officials say they are confident that election infrastructure is secure enough to withstand any attacks from U.S. adversaries. Yet in a tight election environment, there are concerns about foreign efforts to influence voters.

Microsoft noted that some of the disinformation campaigns it tracks have received little genuine engagement from the American public, but that others have been amplified by unwitting Americans, exposing thousands of people to foreign propaganda at during the last weeks of the vote.

Russia, China and Iran have all rejected allegations that they are seeking to interfere in US elections.

“Presidential elections are the internal affairs of the United States. China has no intention and will not interfere in the US elections,” the Chinese Embassy said in a statement.

“As we have unequivocally and repeatedly announced, Iran has neither motive nor intent to interfere in the U.S. election; and, therefore, it categorically rejects such accusations,” read a statement from the Iranian mission to the United Nations.

A message left at the Russian embassy was not immediately returned Wednesday.

The report reveals a growing landscape of coordinated campaigns aimed at advancing adversaries’ priorities, as world wars and economic concerns raise the stakes in U.S. elections around the world. It details a trend also seen in the 2016 and 2020 elections of foreign actors secretly fomenting discord among American voters, deepening a divide within the electorate that left the nation almost evenly divided just 13 days before the end of the vote.

“History has shown that the ability of foreign actors to quickly disseminate misleading content can have a significant impact on public perception and election results,” Clint Watts, general manager of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, said in a statement. press release. “With particular emphasis on the 48 hours before and after Election Day, voters, government institutions, candidates and parties must remain vigilant against misleading and suspicious activity online. »

The report adds to previous findings from Microsoft and US intelligence that suggest the Kremlin is determined to castigate Harris’ online persona, a sign of its preference for another Donald Trump presidency.

Russian actors have spent recent months producing both AI-generated content, cruder parodies and staged videos spreading disinformation about Harris, Microsoft analysts found.

Among the fake videos were an edited clip of a park ranger impersonator claiming Harris had killed an endangered rhino in Zambia, as well as a video sharing baseless allegations about her running mate Tim Walz, which officials said US intelligence also attributed to Russia this week. Morgan Finkelstein, national security spokesperson for the Harris campaign, condemned Russia’s efforts.

Another Russian influence actor produced fake election-related videos impersonating U.S. organizations, from Fox News to the FBI to Wired magazine, according to the report.

In recent months, China has focused on races to the bottom and general efforts to sow distrust and democratic dissatisfaction. A Chinese influencer widely known as Spamouflage used fake social media users to attack Republicans who publicly denounced China, according to Microsoft analysts.

Targeted candidates included Rep. Barry Moore of Alabama, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, all of whom are running for re-election, according to the report. The group also attacked Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

Moore, McCaul and Rubio sent emailed statements warning that China’s aggression against U.S. political candidates and its efforts to weaken democracy must be taken seriously. A spokesperson for Blackburn did not immediately have a comment.

In its statement, the Chinese embassy said U.S. officials, politicians and media “accused China of using news sites and social media accounts to spread so-called disinformation to the United States.” United. Such allegations are full of malicious speculation against China, which China firmly opposes.”

Iran, which spent the 2024 campaign targeting Trump with disinformation and hacking the former president’s campaign, was not stymied by ongoing tensions in the Middle East, Microsoft report says .

Quite the contrary, Iran-linked groups have used divided opinions on the Israel-Hamas war to influence American voters, analysts have found. For example, an Iranian character took to Telegram and X to call on Americans not to participate in the elections due to the candidates’ support for Israel.

Microsoft’s report also said it observed an Iranian group compromising the account of a notable Republican politician who had another targeted account in June. The company would not name the individual but said he was the same person it referred to in August as a “former presidential candidate.”

The report also warns that the same Iranian group that allegedly posed as members of the far-right Proud Boys party in voter intimidation emails in 2020 has crawled state election-related websites and media swing in recent months. This behavior could “suggest preparations for more direct influence operations as Election Day approaches,” Watts said.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in a statement that the allegations in the report “are fundamentally unfounded and completely inadmissible.”

Even as Russia, China and Iran attempt to influence voters, intelligence officials said Tuesday that there is no indication they are planning significant attacks on election infrastructure to disrupt the outcome.

If they tried, improvements to election security mean they wouldn’t be able to change the results in any way, Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told the Associated Press earlier this month.

Intelligence officials also warned Tuesday that Russia and Iran could try to encourage violent protests in the United States after next month’s elections, setting the stage for possible complications in the post-election period.