FBI says foreign hackers penetrated state election systems

[Stonepounder]

Source: Yahoo News

The FBI has uncovered evidence that foreign hackers penetrated two state election databases in recent weeks, prompting the bureau to warn election officials across the country to take new steps to enhance the security of their computer systems, according to federal and state law enforcement officials.

The FBI warning, contained in a “flash” alert from the FBI’s Cyber Division, a copy of which was obtained by Yahoo News, comes amid heightened concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about the possibility of cyberintrusions, potentially by Russian state-sponsored hackers, aimed at disrupting the November elections.

Those concerns prompted Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to convene a conference call with state election officials on Aug. 15, in which he offered his department’s help to make state voting systems more secure, including providing federal cyber security experts to scan for vulnerabilities, according to a “readout” of the call released by the department.

Johnson emphasized in the call that Homeland Security was not aware of “specific or credible cybersecurity threats” to the election, officials said. But three days after that call, the FBI Cyber Division issued a potentially more disturbing warning, entitled “Targeting Activity Against State Board of Election Systems.” The alert, labeled as restricted for “NEED TO KNOW recipients,” disclosed that the bureau was investigating cyberintrusions against two state election websites this summer, including one that resulted in the “exfiltration,” or theft, of voter registration data. “It was an eye opener,” one senior law enforcement official said of the bureau’s discovery of the intrusions. “We believe it’s kind of serious, and we’re investigating.”

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/fbi-says-foreign-hackers-penetrated-000000175.html

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Maybe it is time to tell the networks it is not absolutely necessary that we have election results the moment the polls close and go back to paper ballots and hand counting.

[Koinos]

1. This could be the first major election affected by Russian intelligence cyber attacks.

I think the US has to do better at countering cyber war. Too many so-called "secure" government servers have been hacked.

[Coyotl]

3. Or by Republicans covering their identity using a server in Russia just like hackers do.

[global1]

2. So This News Provides Cover For Either Party That Loses That....

the vote was stolen or rigged. Whomever becomes president can be de-legitimized creating much chaos throughout the realm.

[Helen Borg]

4. Then we'll be OK.

"prompting the bureau to warn election officials across the country to take new steps to enhance the security of their computer systems"

That's going to fix it.

[ananda]

10. Righteeoo

Sure

[TryLogic]

5. Elections can be relatively efficient and clean.

All we need is electronic voting machines that provide a paper receipt. The voter checks the receipt to see that his/her votes were printed correctly, then deposits the receipt in a secure ballot box. Random samples of the paper ballots can be counted by hand, and any result that is questionable can be counted by hand.

[Stonepounder]

6. I have advocated this type of system for a LONG time.

One added thing to your system. Any manufacturer whose machines do NOT count accurately will refund the entire amount paid for their machines, will pay for the manual recount, and will be banned from supplying voting machines for at least ten years. If it can be proved that the miscount was intentional it will be considered a felony and the executives of the company will face federal charges.

A cash register in a supermarket can spit out a itemized receipt.
An ATM can give you your balance and spit out a paper tape.
Any dept store can give you a paper receipt.
Hell, on-line shopping will email you a receipt.
But, Dibold and the other manufacturers of electronic voting machines whine and complain that it would be too hard and too expensive for their machines to print a receipt.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it.

[toddwv]

13. We have those in WV

You vote using a touch screen. Whenever you make your choice for a particular office, you confirm your selection, it prints the results on a receipt tape behind a clear window so you can verify your choices.



Foolproof? No, but at least there's a backup for if (when?) hacking electronic voting machines becomes common.

[apnu]

7. Well Fuck. IL and AZ hacked.

And I bet there are more.

[christx30]

8. Well, how else is trump going to get elected ?

He doesn't have a prayer to get it done legitimately. His only hope is Russian operatives making it happen.
This Election Day is going to be a disaster. No one is going to believe it either way.

[apnu]

9. The RBN is involved. This is way beyond silly Trump paranoia and election fixing.

"RBN" stands for "Russian Business Network" Its a collection of Russian hackers who buy and sell information, hacks and pretty much everything under the sun.

ID theft and fake credit from stolen IDs? Probably the RBN is involved, stuff like that. They are the ones who really turned cybercrime profitable on an organized and industrial scale.

This is really big news. Voter DBs have a lot of sensitive personal identifying information. For example, a bad guy with this info could probably get Amazon to cough up account details because they know names, addresses and probably phone numbers.

A state's voter DB is a gold mine to black market information brokers. The people of AZ and IL are screwed badly. And since governments often use the same contractors and services, whatever the mechanism of the breech in AZ and IL, its likely that other states were hacked and leaked data also. Just wait and see in the next few weeks to hear more about this.

[Ford_Prefect]

11. How do they tell the difference between Russian, Korean, Saudi, Israeli, GOP, or anyone else's Hack.

There are quite a few "players" out there who have a demonstrated interest in the results of this campaign, and a history of taking any and all steps required to arrive at their goals.

...And No, I don't wear aluminum headgear.

I don't doubt there are Russian players with an interest and the means. I just get the feeling at times that we are as much being led through the old cold war drills as we are being informed of real threats or events. I Find the timing and the method used to convey this warning interesting since the DOJ normally keeps quiet until they have a case they can prosecute.

Whatever Putin may be up to, or the Russian mafia for that matter, it is very unlikely they are the only ones tracking internal events or data at either party, or among public institutions involved in the election. If NSA can and does listen where ever they choose, so can others. It defies logic that they would not try to find or plant information to their favor. Data fishing, theft and manipulation are not exclusively the sphere of the Russian government, just ask VISA or MasterCard, or your healthcare insurer about how secure your personal data really is.

[Ghost Dog]

16. .

[FigTree]

12. There's no way to know the origin. Period.

Everything can be faked by anyone, including the "grammar" or the procedures/tools used.

[turbinetree]

14. Elections should not be for a profit but for democracy and your statement below is correct..........

"Maybe it is time to tell the networks it is not absolutely necessary that we have election results the moment the polls close and go back to paper ballots and hand counting."



I also recommend going to for the latest installment of what is transpiring in this so called representative government

http://www.bradblog.com/

&

http://blackboxvoting.org/

[lark]

15. It's the only way drumpf can win.

Is this Russia doing what they can to steal the election for the Trojan horse candidate?

[Agnosticsherbet]

17. It strikes me that a massive attempt on state systems in November would throw the election in doubt

even if it had no effect on the real vote.

It would delegitimize the newly elected President, and with Donald suggesting his loss means the election was hacked, it would encourage and even suggesting second amendment solutions, it could lead to massive problems.