By Amanda Vicinanzo
Homeland Security Today
As the United States gears up for the presidential election in November, lawmakers are raising concerns over the cybersecurity of US voting systems. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Saturday that hackers have been probing multiple state voting systems, although there is yet to be a sign of actual manipulation of voting information.
Johnson urged states to seek cybersecurity assistance from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ahead of the elections. So far, 21 states have contacted DHS regarding their cybersecurity resources.
“These challenges aren’t just in the future — they are here today,” Johnson said. “In recent months, malicious cyber actors have been scanning a large number of state systems, which could be a preamble to attempted intrusions. In a few cases, we have determined that malicious actors gained access to state voting-related systems. However, we are not aware at this time of any manipulation of data.”
Attempts to influence the elections via cyberspace culminated this summer with the hack of the Democratic National Committee, which resulted in the publication of a trove of internal emails. As Homeland Security Today previously reported, several cybersecurity firms, including Crowdstrike, have linked the intrusions to Russia.
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