There has been a surge in posts about elections on the dark web in the first two months of 2024, NordVPN said in a press release on Tuesday.
In 2023, posts about elections on the dark web climbed by 394 percent compared to 2022, but there have been half as many posts already this year, the cybersecurity company said.
More than 60 countries — half of the world’s population — are set to hold elections this year, and hackers have a keen interest in this as it presents an opportunity for disinformation campaigns to sway public opinion. Hackers can also exploit elections to spread malware, conduct scams, and steal or leak user data on the dark web.
“In recent years, hackers’ role in elections has increased. Sometimes they are even more active than the electorate itself,” NordVPN said.
Hackers are Highly Interested in 2024 Elections
Hackers can bring “chaos, fear, and injustice to the election process,” NordVPN warned. This threat is particularly heightened today with the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, which allows threat actors to sway voters through disinformation campaigns.
“AI plays a massive part in disinformation campaigns — creating deceitful but convincing narratives has never been so easy and quick to achieve,” NordVPN said.
“Bad actors have many ways to disrupt elections, from manipulation through cyberattacks and influencing election results from another country to pressuring people into voting in a particular way,” it added.
Beyond disinformation, hackers can also use AI to spread malware and carry out scams. Hackers could breach voting systems and sell access to them on the dark web. They can also leak voters’ information and disrupt the software and systems that power elections, including the machines that count votes.
Government Censorship During Elections
Besides hackers, voters also face a threat from repressive governments that may increase surveillance and censorship during elections.
About 24 countries set to hold national elections this year have a history of internet shutdowns, according to advocacy group #KeepItOn. This undermines election transparency and accountability, reflecting broader issues of political repression, weak institutions, and censorship.
“Internet shutdowns are impacting billions worldwide, deliberately interrupting internet-based communications and making it harder for different actors to engage in the electoral process fully,” Laura Tyrylytė, the head of PR at Nord Security, said.
NordVPN urged netizens to fight internet censorship using a VPN and other tools. The cybersecurity company already provides free VPN services in cases of extreme censorship and offers a discount on its services to activists, journalists, and non-profit organizations.
How to Fight Internet Censorship During Elections
“Whenever a government announces an increase in surveillance, internet restrictions, or other types of constraints, people turn to privacy tools, such as VPNs,” Tyrylytė said.
For instance, when Pakistan imposed internet restrictions, including shutting down X (formerly Twitter), VPN demand in the country quadrupled within a week. Similarly, VPN usage has surged in Russia and Turkey, where the governments have clamped down on online freedom over the years.
Tyrylytė offered the following recommendations to combat internet censorship anywhere in the world:
- Encrypt your internet traffic and route it through a VPN to bypass restrictions and mask your IP address.
- Route your internet traffic through a proxy server to hide your IP address and access censored content.
- Use browsers like Tor to route internet traffic through multiple servers, cloaking your browsing activity and access to content that may be censored.
- Bypass internet censorship at the DNS (Domain Name Server) level by avoiding DNS servers that internet service providers (ISPs) have tampered with.
- Use messaging services (like Signal) with end-to-end encryption to prevent authorities from intercepting your messages. Check out our top-rated encrypted messaging services for some suggestions.
NordVPN is our top VPN service, and it has several features to help you fight censorship. For example, NordVPN offers dedicated Tor and P2P servers for enhanced anonymity and safe torrenting, alongside Double VPN for extra encryption in restrictive regions.
Read our comprehensive NordVPN review to learn more about this VPN and how it performed in our tests.
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