New York: The campaign of the French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron has been targeted by what appears to be the same Russian operatives responsible for hacks of Democratic campaign officials before last year's US presidential election, a cyber security firm warns in a new report.

The report, to be released on Tuesday, has heightened concerns that Russia may turn its playbook on France in an effort to harm Macron's candidacy and bolster that of Macron's rival, the former National Front leader Marine Le Pen, in the final weeks of the French presidential campaign.

Security researchers at the cyber security firm, Trend Micro, said that on March 15 they spotted a hacking group they believe to be a Russian intelligence unit turn their weapons on Macron's campaign - sending emails to campaign officials and others with links to fake websites designed to bait them into turning over passwords.

The group began registering several decoy internet addresses last month and as recently as April 15, naming one 'onedrive-en-marche.fr' and another 'mail-en-marche.fr' to mimic the name of Macron's political party, En Marche.