Tech giant, Microsoft, has announced the detection of hacking campaigns targeted at various democratic institutions ahead of the European Union scheduled between the 23rd to 26th of May, 2019.

According to Microsoft, the group responsible for the attack is known as Strontium, but is commonly referred to as Fancy Bear or APT28 by security firms and government agencies. It is also believed to be sponsored by the Russian government.

In a detailed blog post addressing the attacks, the Microsoft Security Chief, Tom Burt, explained that these attacks were not only targeted at political campaigns, but also think tanks and non-profit organisations working on topics relating to democracy, electoral integrity and public policy.

The hackers targeted 104 employee accounts from well-known groups in the German Council on Foreign Relations, the Aspen Institute in Europe and the German Marshall Fund (GMF), between September and December 2018.

Further analysis of the attacks revealed that the hackers were able to infiltrate using “spearphishing” tactics with the use of fake emails or websites used in harvesting workers’ credentials, gaining access to their computers.

In response to the threat, the GMF president, Karen Donfried, stressed the need for vigilance heading into the elections.

“Organizations and individuals need to be aware and prepared that malign forces, including sophisticated state actors, seek to exploit them in the digital space,” GMF president Karen Donfried said.

“It is more important than ever that we be vigilant to protect our democracies from foreign interference, including online.”

Among the targets were employees based in EU members Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and Romania as well as non-member Serbia.

A string of votes are expected to occur over the next few months including the European Parliament elections in May, Parliamentary polls in Estonia, Finland and Belgium and also presidential ballots in Slovakia, Ukraine and Lithuania.