US intelligence agencies believe that Russia has penetrated into the electoral systems of some states

A U.S. intelligence spokeswoman said Wednesday that Russia was able to “successfully infiltrate” voter registration systems in a small number of states in 2016.Voice of America«.

Фото: Depositphotos

Janneth Manfra, who is responsible for cybersecurity issues at the US Department of Homeland Security, told NBC News that the targets of Russia were 21 staff, and “in very few of them” was really penetrated.

The ministry had previously notified this 21 state that Russia was trying to hack their electoral systems before the 2016 elections of the year.

It was Manfra who first informed the Senate intelligence committee in June of last year that these states were a target for Russian hackers on the eve of the elections.

Earlier it was reported that hackers infiltrated the voter registration system in Arizona and Illinois. A number of other states, including Alabama, California, Colorado, Wisconsin and Florida, have confirmed that they have been attacked.

Officials told NBC that there was no evidence that any changes were made to the voter lists.

The Department of Homeland Security officially notified the electoral authorities in these states that they were under attack. Officials said that in most cases there was only a preparation for hacking, in particular, the search for vulnerabilities.

Jay Johnson, who led the department during the Russian invasion, told NBC that "2016 was the wake-up call" and the onus is now on states and federal governments to do something about it before our democracy is overthrown. attack".

“We were able to establish that scanning and probing voter registration databases came from the Russian authorities,” said Johnson.

According to the American intelligence community, these steps were part of Moscow’s broader efforts to intervene in the US presidential election.

The affected systems were not related to the counting of votes.

This information has caused widespread concern that Russia or another foreign entity may be looking for opportunities to intervene in future elections using cyber attacks and other tactics.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned on Tuesday that Russia was already trying to intervene in the upcoming mid-term elections in the United States this year.

However, in a recent interview The Hill Manfra said she was unaware of any credible efforts related to the mid-year 2018 elections, although this threat still causes her concern.

“I will always worry about it. Different actors will always try to influence our democratic processes, she said. “As a country, we must be able to resist these attempts.”

The ministry conducts vulnerability tests and provides other services to states that seek to enhance the security of their electoral systems on the eve of future elections in connection with the assignment of voting systems to critical infrastructure.

The Department of Homeland Security also shares cyber threat information with state electoral officials.

In late January, CIA director Mike Pompeo said that he “had every reason to expect” that Russia would try to intervene in the mid-term elections.

"I have every reason to expect them to try to do this," Pompeo said in an interview with the BBC. “But I am sure that America will be able to hold free and fair elections, and we will offer strong enough resistance so that their influence on our elections will not be significant.”

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