Federal cybersecurity experts on Tuesday tried to reassure American voters that hackers have not violated any electoral system this year.
The Cyberspace and Infrastructure Security Agency and FBI said in a joint statement, they have “not seen cyber registration this year in the voter registration database or any system that includes voting.”
The statement was released after an interaction on social media this week over information allegedly offered by hackers for sale this week. Following the statement, the Trump administration decided to cancel pre-determined personal briefings for members of Congress on election security and foreign interference. And in 2016, Russian hackers attacked electoral systems in all 50 states and even attempted to remove and replace voter data.
But the CISA and the FBI said that hasn’t happened in 2020, at least not yet. “Early and unverified claims should be viewed with great skepticism,” the agencies noted.
Security experts said that previous reports of hacked or leaked voter data appearing on the Dark Web, where criminals regularly exchange illicit material, likely emanate from publicly available voter data. The US State Department has been offering cash rewards for evidence of foreign interference in the elections. Therefore, some hackers may have obtained public information and tried to claim the rewards, they said.
Because the rumors mentioned Michigan voter data, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office also denied any information was stolen.
“Our system is not hacked,” a Benson spokesperson told the Detroit News. “We encourage that all Michigan persons to be try of attempts to ‘hack’ their minds, question the sources of advertisements and obtain awesome sources, including local electoral clerks and our offices.”
