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The FBI and CISA warn of attempts by malicious actors to “sow distrust” of the US electoral system.
The US FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have released a joint public service announcement warning of attempts to decrease public confidence ahead of the US presidential election later this year.
According to CISA and the FBI, malicious actors are spreading claims that they have successfully compromised the data of registered voters via cyber attacks.
“Malicious actors continue to spread false or misleading information in an attempt to manipulate public opinion and undermine confidence in US democratic institutions,” the 12 September announcement said.
“One of the most common tactics involves using obtained voter registration information as evidence to support false claims that a cyber operation compromised election infrastructure.”
As the announcement points out, voter data can be obtained through several legitimate means and later used to support claims of compromises and data breaches.
“The reality is that having access to voter registration data is not by itself an indicator of a voter registration database compromise,” the announcement said.
“Most US voter information can be purchased or otherwise legitimately acquired through publicly available sources.”
And even when threat actors have gotten hold of voter registration data, “the acquisition of this data did not impact the voting process or election results”.
Speaking as plainly as possible, CISA and the FBI said they had no information that any such attack has ever changed voter information, delayed an election, prevented a registered voter from exercising their democratic right to vote, or interfered with the vote count once the polls have closed.
“The FBI and CISA urge the American public to critically evaluate claims of ‘hacked’ or ‘leaked’ voter information and to remember that most voter registration information is available to the public,” the announcement said.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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