2016 US Election: Russian Hackers Targeted Voter Databases in 20 States

Voter registration systems in at least 20 states accept been targeted by hackers, a Homeland Security official has confirmed. Information technology hasn't been adamant if these threats were domestic or foreign, but Russian federation remains the master doubtable.

Hackers target nearly half of the states' voter registration systems alee of the U.s. election

Merely a month away, the Usa presidential election has attracted quite a lot of hacker attention. According to the Associated Press, Homeland Security has confirmed that xx state voter registration systems were hacked in the past few months. This latest official confirmation follows the August warning that was sent past the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI had issued a bulletin terminal calendar month warning that hackers had infiltrated the Illinois State Board of Elections.

The FBI received information of an additional IP address, 5.149.249.172, which was detected in the July 2022 compromise of a land's Board of Ballot Web site. Additionally, in August 2022 attempted intrusion activities into another state's Lath of Election system identified the IP accost, 185.104.ix.39 used in the aforementioned compromise.

A spokesman for the Arizona secretary of land had said that the state "got word from the FBI that a credential was leaked by a Russian hacker." The hacker was a known entity to the law enforcement. ABC News now reports that the voter registration systems were targeted past "foreign hackers, and iv of those systems accept successfully been breached."

Hackers working on behalf of the Russian regime are suspected in the onslaught against more than 20 state ballot systems, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

Outdated, offline voting machines to relieve the ballot from cyber attacks

While these aren't the actual voting systems only attacks on voter registration databases, the Bureau and states are working together to confront whatever threats leading into the ballot. There are concerns that foreign hackers (read, Russian federation) may try to influence the results of the election. Equally hacking attempts go on to influence the 2022 US presidential election, Congress is looking into whether these cyber attacks could really affect the November election.

A congressional hearing invited 5 loftier-ranking officials from the Homeland Security and the US Election Help Commission along with cybersecurity experts. All five experts agreed that a cyber set on would not affect the outcome of the election. The officials noted that the electronic voting organisation's all-time line of defense confronting cyber attacks is that the machines aren't connected to the net. Hackers would actually need to bear witness upward to hijack the presidential ballot.

Earlier in June, the WaPo had reported that the Russian hackers targeted the networks of Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The spies also tried to breach computers of some Republican political action committees. The cyber assail was a comprehensive and sophisticated attempt, enabling intruders to read all electronic mail and conversation traffic on the commission's organisation.

FBI's James Comey told the Business firm Judiciary Committee this Wednesday that the agency is figuring out "merely what mischief is Russian federation up to in connection with our ballot." The head of the agency once more repeated FBI'south earlier security recommendations that u.s. should contact the Section of Homeland Security to "make sure that their deadbolts are thrown and their locks are on."