Homeland Security says they remain vigilant against Election Day cyberattacks
Department of Homeland Security officials told CBS News that they are equipped to counter a possible cyberattack on Election Day, hoping to quell some voter anxiety surrounding this year’s presidential election.
Government officials added that they’re working with states and taking precautionary measures to patch systematic vulnerabilities that may compromise the voting process, CBS News’ Homeland Security correspondent Jeff Pegues reported.
“These services include cyber ‘hygiene’ scans of Internet-facing systems, risk and vulnerability assessments, information sharing about cyber incidents, and best practices for securing voter registration databases and addressing potential cyber threats,” read a joint DHS and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security statement from early October.
“DHS has convened an Election Infrastructure Cybersecurity Working Group with experts across all levels of government to raise awareness of cybersecurity risks potentially affecting election infrastructure and the elections process.”
States like Arizona and Illinois have already reported breaches into voter databases, and have subsequently worked to repair them. But not all states welcome DHS’ assistance. CBS previously reported at least 11 states have refused the help, arguing that the meddling of the government in local elections is a sign of federal overreach.
Officials do not believe that cyberattacks could change voting totals, but they could cause confusion regardless.
Another 20 states have seen scanning and probing into their systems, but DHS officials have insisted that they are not aware of such breaches.
DHS cybersecurity experts compare their job on election night to the role of “firefighters,” detecting and preventing cyber attacks and then extinguishing them. They say they’ll leave the job of identifying the source of any possible attacks to FBI officials and other law enforcement agencies.
Officials added that they’re approaching election night very similarly to how they approached the “Y2K” bug in 2000, when fears of a massive computer meltdown on the eve of the millennium reverberated across the country. That ultimately was nothing more than a false alarm.
U.S. officials said they are particularly concerned about protecting the electrical grid and water systems from cyber attacks. They cite a recent incident in which a foreign actor shut down a power grid on election night in Ukraine, affecting more than 2.25 million customers.
Though DHS officials hope the U.S. doesn’t experience a similar interference, they say they remain concerned the possibility of attacks.
Fears of Russian interference in the outcome of the U.S. election stem from a batch of WikiLeaks emails that caused disturbance within the Democratic party. Hacked messages from the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations led to the resignation of then-DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
The U.S. government officially accused Moscow of instigating the digital attacks in October, though no formal course of action has been announced.
CBS News’ Jeff Pegues contributed to this report.
