(updated Mar. 16, 2021) Russian
interference in the 2016 presidential election
was not an isolated incident. Meddling by
Russia, China and other bad actors has affected
elections around the world in recent years. The attacks are multifaceted,
ranging from hacking to promulgation of fake news
and disinformation. Following the 2016 election, U.S.
officials at all levels of government did a lot
of work on election security, but there
were still efforts by foreign governments to
influence and undermine faith in the 2020
election.
#Protect2020 Strategic Plan
"CISA’s #Protect2020 initiative will engage
officials from all fifty states, District of
Columbia, and partisan organizations. We are
working to make it harder for adversaries to
compromise our systems and to enhance our
resilience so that Americans know their
votes will count—and will be counted
correctly."
– #Protect2020
Strategic Plan (Feb. 2020)
"We assess that President Putin and the Russian
state authorized and conducted influence operations
against the 2020 US presidential election aimed at
denigrating President Biden and the Democratic
Party, supporting former President Trump,
undermining public confidence in the electoral
process, and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions
in the US."
– Foreign Threats to the 2020 US Federal
Elections (Mar. 10, 2021)
C-SPAN video
Director of National Intelligence
October 21, 2020
DNI John Ratcliffe’s Remarks at Press
Conference on Election Security
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Director of National
Intelligence John Ratcliffe delivered the
following remarks during a press conference on
election security at FBI Headquarters with FBI
Director Christopher Wray.
(Remarks as delivered)
The President has instructed the Intelligence and
Law Enforcement Communities to ensure the 2020
elections are the safest and most secure in our
nation’s history.
We take that mandate and responsibility
seriously. There is nothing more sacred in our
republic than the fundamental, democratic
principle of one-person, one vote.
It is our duty to ensure the sanctity of U.S.
elections. That includes ensuring the security of
voting systems. The Intelligence Community’s role
is to identify threats and assess the intentions,
capabilities, and actions of foreign adversaries.
Our duty also includes empowering the American
people to understand information – or perhaps more
accurately, disinformation – that they are seeing,
particularly on the Internet, and make informed
decisions for themselves.
With that in mind, we would like to alert the
public that we have identified that two foreign
actors – Iran and Russia – have taken specific
actions to influence public opinion relating to
our elections.
First, we have confirmed that some voter
registration information has been obtained by
Iran, and separately, by Russia. This data can be
used by foreign actors to attempt to communicate
false information to registered voters that they
hope will cause confusion, sow chaos, and
undermine your confidence in American democracy.
To that end, we have already seen Iran sending
“spoofed” emails designed to intimidate voters,
incite social unrest, and damage President Trump.
You may have seen some reporting on this in the
last 24 hours, or you may have been one of the
recipients.
Additionally, Iran is distributing other content,
to include a video that implies that individuals
could cast fraudulent ballots, even from overseas.
This video – and any claims about such allegedly
fraudulent ballots – are not true.
These actions are desperate attempts by desperate
adversaries. Even if the adversaries pursue
further attempts to intimidate or attempt to
undermine voter confidence, know that our election
systems are resilient, and you can be confident
your votes are secure.
Although we have not seen the same actions from
Russia, we are aware that they have obtained some
voter information, just as they did in 2016.
Rest assured that we prepared for the possibility
of actions by those hostile to democracy. The
great women and men of the Intelligence Community
caught this activity immediately, and our
colleagues at FBI and DHS acted swiftly in
response to the threat.
We are standing before you now to give you the
confidence that we are on top of this and
providing you with the most powerful weapon we
have to combat these efforts: the truth.
Information.
We ask every American to do their part to defend
against those who wish us harm. The way you do
that is quite simple: Do not allow these efforts
to have their intended effect. If you receive an
intimidating or manipulative email in your inbox,
don’t be alarmed, and don’t spread it.
This is not a partisan issue.
I had conversations today with members of
Congress from both sides of the aisle and there is
complete unanimity in the U.S. government in our
resolve to combat the enemies of freedom.
The President has instructed me to keep the
public informed, as appropriate. You have my
commitment that I will continue to do exactly
that, with transparency and with candor.
We will not tolerate foreign interference in our
elections and will continue to work with our many
partners to disrupt, and impose cost and
consequences on any adversary that attempts to
interfere in our democratic processes. The efforts
the President empowered us to put toward election
security these last four years are working. I will
now turn it over to my colleagues to address the
activities.
_____________
Federal Bureau of Investigation
October 21, 2020
FBI Director Christopher Wray’s Remarks at
Press Conference on Election Security
FBI Director
Christopher Wray delivered the following remarks
during a press conference on election security
at FBI Headquarters with Director of National
Intelligence John Ratcliffe. (Remarks as
delivered)
The FBI is the primary agency responsible for
investigating malicious cyber activity against
election infrastructure, malign foreign
influence operations, and election-related
crimes, like voter fraud and voter suppression
or intimidation.
And that’s exactly what we’ve been doing.
At the FBI, we’re working closely with our
intelligence community partners, as well as our
other federal, state, and local partners, to
share information, bolster security, and
identify and disrupt any threats.
We’re not going to tolerate foreign interference
in our elections or any criminal activity that
threatens the sanctity of your vote or
undermines public confidence in the outcome of
the election.
When we see indications of foreign interference
or federal election crimes, we’re going to
aggressively investigate and work with our
partners, to quickly take appropriate action.
We’re also coordinating with the private
sector—both technology and social media
companies—to make sure that their platforms are
not used by foreign adversaries to spread
disinformation and
propaganda.
We’ve been working for years as a community to
build resilience in our election
infrastructure—and today that infrastructure
remains resilient.
You should be confident that your vote counts.
Early, unverified claims to the contrary should
be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism.
We encourage everyone to seek election and
voting information from reliable sources—namely,
your state election officials. And to be
thoughtful, careful, and discerning consumers of
information online.
And if you suspect criminal activity, we ask
that you report that information to your local
FBI field office.
As always, the men and women of the FBI remain
committed to protecting the American people, our
democracy, and the integrity of our elections.
We are not going to let our guard down.
Federal
Bureau of Investigation
Alert Number
I-092220-PSA
September 22, 2020
FOREIGN ACTORS AND CYBERCRIMINALS LIKELY TO
SPREAD DISINFORMATION REGARDING 2020 ELECTION
RESULTS
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
(CISA) are issuing this announcement to raise
awareness of the potential threat posed by attempts
to spread disinformation regarding the results of
the 2020 elections. Foreign actors and
cybercriminals could create new websites, change
existing websites, and create or share corresponding
social media content to spread false information in
an attempt to discredit the electoral process and
undermine confidence in U.S. democratic
institutions.
State and local officials typically require several
days to weeks to certify elections’ final results in
order to ensure every legally cast vote is
accurately counted. The increased use of mail-in
ballots due to COVID-19 protocols could leave
officials with incomplete results on election night.
Foreign actors and cybercriminals could exploit the
time required to certify and announce elections’
results by disseminating disinformation that
includes reports of voter suppression, cyberattacks
targeting election infrastructure, voter or ballot
fraud, and other problems intended to convince the
public of the elections’ illegitimacy.
The FBI and CISA urge the American public to
critically evaluate the sources of the information
they consume and to seek out reliable and verified
information from trusted sources, such as state and
local election officials. The public should also be
aware that if foreign actors or cyber criminals were
able to successfully change an election-related
website, the underlying data and internal systems
would remain uncompromised.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Seek out information from trustworthy
sources, such as state and local election
officials; verify who produced the content;
and consider their intent.
Verify through multiple reliable sources any
reports about problems in voting or election
results, and consider searching for other
reliable sources before sharing such
information via social media or other avenues.
For information about final election
results, rely on state and local government
election officials.
Report potential election crimes—such as
disinformation about the manner, time, or
place of voting—to the FBI.
If appropriate, make use of in-platform
tools offered by social media companies for
reporting suspicious posts that appear to be
spreading false or inconsistent information
about election-related problems or results.
The FBI is responsible for investigating malign
foreign influence operations and malicious cyber
activity targeting election infrastructure and other
U.S. democratic institutions. CISA is responsible
for protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure
from physical and cyber threats. The FBI and CISA
provide services and information to uphold the
security, integrity, and resiliency of the U.S.
electoral processes.
VICTIM REPORTING AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The FBI encourages victims to report information
concerning suspicious or criminal activity to
their local field office (www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field).
For additional assistance and best practices, and
common terms, please visit the following websites:
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ODNI News Release No. 29-20
August 7, 2020
Statement by NCSC Director William Evanina:
Election Threat Update for the American Public
On July 24, 2020, I issued a statement to
the American public providing an unclassified
overview of foreign threats to the 2020 election and
offering basic steps to mitigate some of these
threats. At that time, I pledged that the U.S.
Intelligence Community (IC) would continue to update
the American public and other key stakeholders on
the evolving election threat landscape, while also
safeguarding our intelligence sources and methods.
Today, we are making good on that promise by sharing
additional information with the public on the
intentions and activities of our adversaries with
respect to the 2020 election. This information is
being released for the purpose of better informing
Americans so they can play a critical role in
safeguarding our election. Below is the latest
public update:
------------------------
Ahead of the 2020 U.S. elections, foreign states
will continue to use covert and overt influence
measures in their attempts to sway U.S. voters’
preferences and perspectives, shift U.S. policies,
increase discord in the United States, and undermine
the American people’s confidence in our democratic
process. They may also seek to compromise our
election infrastructure for a range of possible
purposes, such as interfering with the voting
process, stealing sensitive data, or calling into
question the validity of the election results.
However, it would be difficult for our adversaries
to interfere with or manipulate voting results at
scale.
Many foreign actors have a preference for who wins
the election, which they express through a range of
overt and private statements; covert influence
efforts are rarer. We are primarily concerned about
the ongoing and potential activity by China, Russia,
and Iran.
CHINA – We assess that China prefers that
President Trump – whom Beijing sees as
unpredictable – does not win reelection. China
has been expanding its influence efforts ahead
of November 2020 to shape the policy environment
in the United States, pressure political figures
it views as opposed to China’s interests, and
deflect and counter criticism of China. Although
China will continue to weigh the risks and
benefits of aggressive action, its public
rhetoric over the past few months has grown
increasingly critical of the current
Administration’s COVID-19 response, closure of
China’s Houston Consulate, and actions on other
issues. For example, it has harshly criticized
the Administration’s statements and actions on
Hong Kong, TikTok, the legal status of the South
China Sea, and China’s efforts to dominate the
5G market. Beijing recognizes that all of these
efforts might affect the presidential race.
RUSSIA – We assess that Russia is using a
range of measures to primarily denigrate former
Vice President Biden and what it sees as an
anti-Russia “establishment.” This is consistent
with Moscow’s public criticism of him when he
was Vice President for his role in the Obama
Administration’s policies on Ukraine and its
support for the anti-Putin opposition inside
Russia. For example, pro-Russia Ukrainian
parliamentarian Andriy Derkach is spreading
claims about corruption – including through
publicizing leaked phone calls – to undermine
former Vice President Biden’s candidacy and the
Democratic Party. Some Kremlin-linked actors are
also seeking to boost President Trump’s
candidacy on social media and Russian
television.
IRAN – We assess that Iran seeks to
undermine U.S. democratic institutions,
President Trump, and to divide the country in
advance of the 2020 elections. Iran’s efforts
along these lines probably will focus on on-line
influence, such as spreading disinformation on
social media and recirculating anti-U.S.
content. Tehran’s motivation to conduct such
activities is, in part, driven by a perception
that President Trump’s reelection would result
in a continuation of U.S. pressure on Iran in an
effort to foment regime change.
------------------------
The intelligence assessments above represent the
most current, accurate, and objective election
threat information the IC has to offer in an
unclassified setting at this time. Providing
objective intelligence analysis is the solemn duty
of the men and women of the IC, who work day and
night around the world, often at great personal
risk, to safeguard our nation.
The IC also recognizes there will continue to be
demand for more information as the election
approaches. The IC has and will continue to provide
classified election threat briefings to the
presidential campaigns, political committees and all
Members of Congress. We have provided nearly 20
classified election threat briefings to these
stakeholders since mid-May 2020. We will also keep
providing updates to the American public, consistent
with our national security obligations. The steps we
have taken thus far to inform the public and other
stakeholders on election threats are unprecedented
for the IC.
Aside from sharing information, let me assure you
that the IC is also doing everything in its power to
combat both cyber and influence efforts targeting
our electoral process and continues to support DHS
and FBI in their critical roles safeguarding the
election. As I emphasized in my July 24, 2020 public
statement, we are all in this together as Americans.
Our election should be our own. Foreign efforts to
influence or interfere with our elections are a
direct threat to the fabric of our democracy. For
more information on election participation,
understanding foreign influence and disinformation,
and ways in which the U.S. Government is working to
secure the 2020 election, we encourage Americans to
visit the following websites:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ODNI News Release No. 28-20
July 24, 2020
Statement by NCSC
Director William Evanina: 100 Days Until
Election 2020
Election security remains a top
priority for the Intelligence Community and we
are committed in our support to DHS and FBI,
given their leadership roles in this area. In
recent months, the Office of the Director of
National Intelligence (ODNI) has been providing
robust intelligence-based briefings on election
security to the presidential campaigns,
political committees, and Congressional
audiences. In leading these classified
briefings, I have worked to ensure fidelity,
accountability, consistency and transparency
with these stakeholders and presented the most
timely and accurate information we have to
offer.
With just over 100 days until the
election, it is imperative that we also share
insights with the American public about foreign
threats to our election and offer steps to
citizens across the country to build resilience
and help mitigate these threats. We will strive
to update Americans on the evolving election
threat landscape, while also safeguarding our
intelligence sources and methods.
Today, we see our adversaries
seeking to compromise the private communications
of U.S. political campaigns, candidates and
other political targets. Our adversaries also
seek to compromise our election infrastructure,
and we continue to monitor malicious cyber
actors trying to gain access to U.S. state and
federal networks, including those responsible
for managing elections. However, the diversity
of election systems among the states, multiple
checks and redundancies in those systems, and
post-election auditing all make it
extraordinarily difficult for foreign
adversaries to broadly disrupt or change vote
tallies without detection.
In addition, foreign nations
continue to use influence measures in social and
traditional media in an effort to sway U.S.
voters’ preferences and perspectives, to shift
U.S. policies, to increase discord and to
undermine confidence in our democratic process.
The coronavirus pandemic and recent protests,
for instance, continue to serve as fodder for
foreign influence and disinformation efforts in
America.
At this time, we’re primarily
concerned with China, Russia and Iran --
although other nation states and non-state
actors could also do harm to our electoral
process. Our insights and judgments will evolve
as the election season progresses.
China is expanding its influence efforts
to shape the policy environment in the
United States, pressure political figures it
views as opposed to China’s interests, and
counter criticism of China. Beijing
recognizes its efforts might affect the
presidential race.
Russia’s persistent objective is to weaken
the United States and diminish our global
role. Using a range of efforts, including
internet trolls and other proxies, Russia
continues to spread disinformation in the
U.S. that is designed to undermine
confidence in our democratic process and
denigrate what it sees as an anti-Russia
“establishment” in America.
Iran seeks to undermine U.S. democratic
institutions and divide the country in
advance of the elections. Iran’s efforts
center around online influence, such as
spreading disinformation on social media and
recirculating anti-U.S. content.
The American public has a role to
play in securing the election, particularly in
maintaining vigilance against foreign influence.
At the most basic level, we encourage Americans
to consume information with a critical eye,
check out sources before reposting or spreading
messages, practice good cyber hygiene and media
literacy, and report suspicious election-related
activity to authorities.
As Americans, we are all in this
together; our elections should be our own.
Foreign efforts to influence or interfere with
our elections are a direct threat to the fabric
of our democracy. Neutralizing these threats
requires not just a whole-of-government
approach, but a whole-of-nation effort. Over the
next 100 days, we will continue to update the
American public and other key stakeholders on
threats to the election and steps for
mitigation.
Biden
for President July 20, 2020
Statement by Vice President Joe Biden on Foreign
Interference in U.S. Elections
Foreign interference in the U.S. electoral process
represents an assault on the American people and
their constitutional right to vote. When foreign
states direct hackers, trolls, money launderers, and
misinformation to subvert or cast doubt on our
elections, they threaten America’s sovereignty,
democratic institutions, and national security. They
undermine the vote and the voice of every U.S.
citizen. They attack our very way of life.
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has
concluded that the Kremlin’s interference in past
elections represented “only the
latest installment in an increasingly brazen
interference by the Kremlin on the citizens and
democratic institutions of the United States.”
Despite the exposure of Russia’s malign activities
by the U.S. Intelligence Community, law enforcement
agencies, and bipartisan Congressional committees,
the Kremlin has not halted its efforts to interfere
in our democracy. In Senate testimony on July 23
2019, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified that
Russia was “absolutely intent on trying to interfere
with our elections.” And on March 27, 2020, the
State Department held a briefing describing how
Russia was recklessly spreading disinformation about
the COVID-19 pandemic. Russia is not the only
foreign actor seeking to interfere in our democracy.
Increasingly, other states have shown an interest in
copying Russia’s tactics.
Congress passed with an overwhelming bipartisan
majority the Countering America’s
Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017. The
Trump administration has thus far failed to make
adequate use of these authorities to counter and
deter foreign election interference. Instead,
President Trump has repeatedly denied that Russia
interfered in our elections, most egregiously during
a joint press conference with Russian President
Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on July 16, 2018.
In spite of President Trump’s failure to act,
America’s adversaries must not misjudge the resolve
of the American people to counter every effort by a
foreign power to interfere in our democracy, whether
by hacking voting systems and databases, laundering
money into our political system, systematically
spreading disinformation, or trying to sow doubt
about the integrity of our elections.
That is why, today, I am putting the Kremlin and
other foreign governments on notice. If elected
president, I will treat foreign interference in our
election as an adversarial act that significantly
affects the relationship between the United States
and the interfering nation’s government. I will
direct the U.S. Intelligence Community to report
publicly and in a timely manner on any efforts by
foreign governments that have interfered, or
attempted to interfere, with U.S. elections. I will
direct my administration to leverage all appropriate
instruments of national power and make full use of
my executive authority to impose substantial and
lasting costs on state perpetrators. These costs
could include financial-sector sanctions, asset
freezes, cyber responses, and the exposure of
corruption. A range of other actions could also be
taken, depending on the nature of the attack. I will
direct our response at a time and in a manner of our
choosing.
In addition, I will take action where needed to stop
attempts to interfere with U.S. elections before
they can impact our democratic processes. In
particular, I will direct and resource the
Department of Defense, Department of Homeland
Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security
Agency, the Department of State, and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation’s Foreign Interference Task
Force to develop plans for disrupting foreign
threats to our elections process. This will be done,
wherever possible, in coordination with our allies
and partners, so that we are isolating the regimes
that seek to undermine democracies and civil
liberties.
I have no desire to escalate tensions with Russia or
any other country. I would prefer to focus the full
energies of my administration on bringing the
international community together to fight COVID-19
and the economic pain it has caused, and to tackle
other pressing issues of international concern. But
if any foreign power recklessly chooses to interfere
in our democracy, I will not hesitate to respond as
president to impose substantial and lasting costs.
###
July 13,
2020 letter from Democratic leaders
Congress
of the United States Washington, DC 20515
July 13, 2020
The Honorable Christopher A. Wray
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20535
Dear Director Wray:
We write to request that the Federal Bureau of
Investigation provide a defensive
counterintelligence briefing to all Members of
the House of Representatives and the Senate
regarding foreign efforts to interfere in the
2020 U.S. presidential election.
We are gravely concerned, in particular, that
Congress appears to be the target of a concerted
foreign interference campaign, which seeks to
launder and amplify disinformation in order to
influence congressional activity, public debate,
and the presidential election in November.
Given the seriousness and specificity of these
threats, as members of congressional leadership
and the congressional intelligence committees we
believe it is imperative that the FBI provide a
classified defensive briefing to all Members of
Congress and that the briefing draw on
all-source intelligence information and
analysis, consistent with due regard for the
protection of sensitive intelligence sources and
methods.
Due to the ongoing nature of these threats, we
ask that the FBI provide this briefing prior to
the August recess at the earliest possible
opportunity, and that your office outline a plan
for the briefing by Monday, July 20.
We appreciate your prompt attention to this
important request.
Sincerely,
Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
U.S House of Representatives
Charles E. Schumer
Democratic Leader
U.S. Senate
Adam B. Schiff
Chairman
U.S. House of Representatives
Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence
Mark R. Warner
Vice Chairman
U.S. Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence
Enclosure: Addendum
CC
The Honorable John Ratcliffe, Director of
National Intelligence
The Honorable Gina Haspel, Director, Central
Intelligence Agency
The Honorable Paul M. Nakasone, Director,
National Security Agency
DOJ, DOD, DHS, DNI,
FBI, NSA, and CISA
March 2, 2020
Joint Statement from DOS, DOJ, DOD,
DHS, ODNI, FBI, NSA, and CISA on
Preparations for Super Tuesday
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo, U.S. Attorney General
William Barr, Secretary of Defense
Mark Esper, Acting Secretary of
Homeland Security Chad Wolf,
Acting Director of National
Intelligence Richard Grenell,
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Director Christopher Wray, U.S.
Cyber Command Commander and
National Security Agency Director
Gen. Paul Nakasone, and
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure
Security Agency Director
Christopher Krebs today released
the following joint statement:
“Tomorrow, millions of voters in
more than a dozen states and
territories will cast their votes
in presidential primaries. ‘Super
Tuesday’ will see more Americans
head to the polls than any other
day of the primary season. We
continue to work with all 50
states,U.S. territories,
local officials, political parties
and private sector partnersto
keep elections free from foreign
interference.
“Americans must also remain aware
that foreign actors continue to
try to influence public sentiment
and shape voter perceptions. They
spread false information and
propaganda about political
processes and candidates on social
media in hopes to cause confusion
and create doubt in our system. We
remain alert and ready to respond
to any efforts to disrupt the 2020
elections. We continue to make it
clear to foreign actors that any
effort to undermine our democratic
processes will be met with sharp
consequences.
“The level of coordination and
communication between the federal
government and state, local and
private sector partners is
stronger than it’s ever been. Our
Departments and Agencies are
working together in an
unprecedented level of commitment
and effort to protect our
elections and to counter malign
foreign influence, but voters have
a role to play too.
DOJ, DOD, DHS, DNI, FBI, NSA, and CISA
November 5, 2019
Joint Statement from DOJ, DOD, DHS, DNI,
FBI, NSA, and CISA on Ensuring Security of
2020 Elections
Attorney General William
Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper,
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security
Kevin McAleenan, Acting Director of
National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, FBI
Director Christopher Wray, U.S. Cyber
Command Commander and NSA Director Gen.
Paul Nakasone, and CISA Director
Christopher Krebs today released the
following joint statement:
Today, dozens of states and local
jurisdictions are hosting their own
elections across the country and, less
than a year from now, Americans will go to
the polls and cast their votes in the 2020
presidential election. Election security
is a top priority for the United States
government. Building on our successful,
whole-of-government approach to securing
the 2018 elections, we have increased the
level of support to state and local
election officials in their efforts to
protect elections. The federal government
is prioritizing the sharing of threat
intelligence and providing support and
services that improve the security of
election infrastructure across the nation.
In an unprecedented level of coordination,
the U.S. government is working with all 50
states and U.S. territories, local
officials, and private sector partners to
identify threats, broadly share
information, and protect the democratic
process. We remain firm in our commitment
to quickly share timely and actionable
information, provide support and services,
and to defend against any threats to our
democracy.
Our adversaries want to undermine our
democratic institutions, influence public
sentiment, and affect government policies.
Russia, China, Iran, and other foreign
malicious actors all will seek to
interfere in the voting process or
influence voter perceptions. Adversaries
may try to accomplish their goals through
a variety of means, including social media
campaigns, directing disinformation
operations, or conducting disruptive or
destructive cyberattacks on state and
local infrastructure.
While at this time we have no evidence of
a compromise or disruption to election
infrastructure that would enable
adversaries to prevent voting, change vote
counts, or disrupt the ability to tally
votes, we continue to vigilantly monitor
any threats to U.S. elections.
The U.S. government will defend our
democracy and maintain transparency with
the American public about our efforts. An
informed public is a resilient public.
Americans should go to trusted sources for
election information, such as their state
and local election officials. We encourage
every American to report any suspicious
activity to their local officials, the
FBI, or DHS. In past election cycles,
reporting by Americans about suspicious
activity provided valuable insight that
has made our elections more secure. The
greatest means to combat these threats is
a whole-of-society effort.
Election Security: A Few Examples
U.S.
Election Assistance Commission
PRESS RELEASE
June 22, 2020
For Immediate Release
U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE
COMMISSION OFFERS NO-COST ONLINE CYBERSECURITY
TRAINING FOR ELECTION OFFICIALS
Silver
Spring, MD–The
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
(EAC) announced the immediate
availability of self-paced,
cybersecurity training specific to
election officials at no cost to all
State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial
election offices. The training consists
of both video and written materials
separated into three modules,
Cybersecurity 101, 201, and 301. The
training was developed by the Center for
Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) and is
delivered through their online platform.
The training is designed specifically
for election administrators and provides
foundational knowledge on cybersecurity
terminology, best practices in election
offices, practical application, and
communication.
“Providing
high-quality cybersecurity training and
resources to election officials has been
a priority of the EAC,” remarked EAC
Chairman Ben Hovland. “The EAC is
excited to make this election-focused
training available now as part of our
broader efforts to assist election
officials and improve their security
posture during 2020 and beyond.”
As part
of its mandate under the Help America
Vote Act (HAVA), the EAC is tasked with
maintaining a clearinghouse of election
administration resources, best
practices, training, checklists, and
other information useful to election
officials responsible for conducting U.S
elections and securing and maintaining
the critical infrastructure that
supports them. The EAC is currently
engaged in an agency-wide effort to
update, collect, and produce new
materials in support of the EAC mission.
“The
orientation and training of our election
workers on ways to combat cybersecurity
threats is the backbone of our defenses
against overseas or domestic bad actors.
This partnership with the Center for
Tech and Civic Life allows us to offer
quality training and resources in direct
support of local election officials and
their critical mission,” said EAC Vice
Chair Donald Palmer.
This election-focused cybersecurity
training is available immediately
throughthe EAC website. The
courses are available at no cost through
May 2021.
#
# #
The
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
(EAC) was established by
the Help America Vote Act of
2002 (HAVA). It is an
independent, bipartisan commission
charged with ensuring secure,
accurate and accessible elections by
developing guidance to meet HAVA
requirements,
adopting voluntary voting
system guidelines, and serving as
a national
clearinghouse of
information on election
administration. EAC
also accredits testing
laboratories and certifies voting
systems, as well
as administers the use of HAVA
funds. For more information, visitwww.eac.gov.
Director
of National Intelligence
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ODNI News Release No. 17-20
May 15, 2020
Director of National Intelligence Announces
Changes to Election Security Briefings
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, the ODNI announced that
the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) will lead
all intelligence-based threat briefings to
candidates, campaigns, and political
organizations under the U.S. Government’s
notification framework. Bill Evanina, the
Director of the National Counterintelligence and
Security Center, will serve as the IC’s leader
to this critical effort.
“US elections are the foundation of our nation’s
democracy. We are committed to supporting this
Administration’s whole-of-government effort to
secure the 2020 election,” said Evanina.
This change represents an important improvement
and simplification to the threat notification
process. The IC will continue to work in
partnership with FBI and DHS to identify and
integrate threat information, and Evanina and
the elections team will act swiftly to deliver
the timely and thorough assessments to those
affected by potential malicious influence.
###
Jan Neutze -
Senior Director, Digital Diplomacy.
Protecting democracy, especially in a time
of crisis
It’s critical when we’re facing crises that we
protect our core values, including democracy.
Democracies were already facing adversaries
intent on using cyberattacks to disrupt our
elections and democratic processes. Now, as
the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic, we
have seen, and others have reported, that
nation states and cybercriminals are taking
advantage of the crisis by using virus-themed
phishing attacks and other techniques to
attack critical institutions. We must assume
they will use these techniques to target our
elections as well.
Today, we are announcing several steps our
Defending Democracy program is taking to help
our democratic processes become more resilient
in light of all these threats. First, starting
today, we’re expanding our Defending Democracy
Program to include a new service, Election
Security Advisors, which will give political
campaigns and election officials hands-on help
securing their systems and recovering from
cyberattacks. Second, we are expanding our
AccountGuard threat notification service to
cover the offices of U.S. election officials
and the U.S. Congress as many are working
remotely. Third, we are extending Microsoft
365 for Campaigns to state-level campaigns and
parties. And, finally, we are publishing our
public policy recommendations for securing
elections, including ways to secure them while
confronting the COVID-19 public health crisis.
Introducing Election Security Advisors
Today, as part of Microsoft’s Defending
Democracy Program, we’re announcing a new
service called Election Security Advisors,
bringing Microsoft’s cybersecurity
preparedness and remediation expertise to
election officials and political campaigns.
Through Election Security Advisors, campaigns
and election officials will be able to choose
from two offerings from Microsoft’s Detection
and Response Team (DART). The first is an
assessment of an organization’s systems and
then providing expert help in configuring them
securely to close any security gaps. The
second is an incident response service helping
these organizations find the cause of an
attack, root it out and provide the direction
required to restore their systems.
Microsoft founded the DART team in 2012 to
provide proactive and reactive incident
response and resiliency services to customers
with the most challenging security needs,
including investigation and remediation
following attacks. The team currently includes
a variety of cybersecurity experts including
forensic investigators, reverse engineers and
crisis experts across more than 33 cities on
five continents who are able to rapidly deploy
to customers around the world. These experts
have been on the cyber front lines, addressing
hundreds of incidents in 52 countries,
spanning 26 industries and numerous government
agencies. We published a case study of the
team’s work today here.
Election Security Advisors is available today
to all campaigns for federal office in the
United States, state and local election
officials, and private vendors serving the
campaign and election community. These
services have been packaged especially for the
needs of the campaign and election community
and will be priced significantly lower than
comparable services for enterprises. We are
also examining ways to bring these services to
other democracies in the future. Those
eligible for Election Security Advisors can
learn more by emailing Protect2020@microsoft.com.
AccountGuard expansion
Since we announced our AccountGuard threat
notification service in August 2018, we’ve
expanded it to political campaigns, parties
and democracy-focused non-profits in 29
countries around the world. It now protects
more than 90,000 accounts. Starting today,
AccountGuard is now also available to members
of U.S. Congress and their staff as well as
state election officials across the country,
and sign up is available here. As many of these
officials and their staff are engaging in
their duties while working remotely, we hope
this extra layer of security will help.
AccountGuard is a free service that notifies
organizations of cyberattacks, tracking threat
activity across email systems run by
organizations as well as the personal accounts
of its employees who opt-in. It’s open to
Office 365 customers and can track threats
targeting Microsoft’s consumer email services,
including Outlook.com and Hotmail. More
on AccountGuard is available in our August
2018 announcement here. AccountGuard also
includes access to cybersecurity training, and
we’ve trained more than 1,500 campaign
staffers and consultants on cybersecurity to
date.
Microsoft 365 for Campaigns expansion
As we’ve continued to engage with those
involved in the democratic process, one thing
we hear routinely is that enterprise-grade
email and filesharing services with
world-class security are often too expensive
for campaigns or are too difficult to set up
and manage. Based on this feedback, last
summer, we announced Microsoft 365
for Campaigns, bringing our best and most
secure email services to political campaigns
at the federal level.
Starting today, we’re bringing Microsoft 365
for Campaigns to anyone running for political
office and political committees at the state
level in the U.S., including those running for
state legislatures and gubernatorial races.
Those wishing to sign up can do so here. As campaigns and
committees think about working remotely to
support upcoming elections, we believe this
will give them the world-class productivity,
email, file-sharing and conferencing tools to
do so in a way that’s affordable, easy to use
and secure. Microsoft 365 for Campaigns
provides the features of Microsoft 365 Business to
these customers at a low price and with setup
tools that help enable any campaign staffer to
configure it securely for a campaign
environment in about five minutes.
Policy recommendations
Today, we also published a set of policy recommendations
and suggested actions government
can take to secure the election system,
including recommendations for conducting
secure elections while addressing the need for
social distancing to fight COVID-19.
To accommodate the possible need for social
distancing leading into the November 2020 U.S.
elections, Microsoft’s Defending Democracy
Program is urging governments to
Look at options like increasing
access to absentee voting
Enable curbside or portable voting
solutions.
To enable absentee voting, states can, for
example, waive the requirement that voters
submit a reason for requesting an absentee
ballot and allow people to request an absentee
ballot online. Portable or curbside voting
solutions, which exist today mainly to
accommodate people with disabilities, should
be expanded, which will require new tools like
e-pollbooks that can ensure voters are
eligible without being tied to a single
polling place.
While COVID-19 is a new and unexpected threat
to U.S. elections, it is certainly not the
only one. Challenges of nation-state
interference and concerns about the security
of election systems were already at the
forefront of many officials’ minds going into
this year. To address this, the policy
recommendations also lay out five specific
suggestions for securing the elections in
general:
A paper trail should be required for
all elections
Election results should be confirmed
through post-election audits
Elections should be end-to-end
verifiable, meaning voters and members of
the public should be able to confirm the
accuracy of results
Consistent funding needs to be
provided by the federal government, so
that state and local officials know when
they purchase new technology that they’ll
have funds to keep it secure through
updates and improvements
Everyone impacted by cyber threats,
including the election community needs to
be part of the discussion about changing
what’s considered acceptable behavior in
cyberspace by joining multi-stakeholder
initiatives like the Paris Peace Call for
Trust & Security in Cyberspace
Of course, we don’t have all the answers, but
we’re sharing these recommendations based on
what we’ve seen as we’ve tried to offer new
technologies to the community and based on
discussions with other technology providers,
election officials and the academic community.
We hope others offer their suggestions and
contribute to the conversation.
In closing, there’s one important note about
today’s AccountGuard and Microsoft 365 for
Campaigns news. Due to local regulations, we
are currently unable to offer AccountGuard to
state election departments or M365 for
Campaigns in the following states at this
time: Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Oklahoma,
Wisconsin and Wyoming. We encourage customers
in those states to explore additional
offerings here. In many cases, it’s
law or regulation – not technical capability –
that is preventing us from helping to secure
democratic institutions as much as possible.
We’ve been pleased that so many government
officials around the world have worked
collaboratively with us to break down existing
barriers, and we’ll continue to work with
government officials to find solutions.
