CISA: No National Scale Election Interference Detected
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency hasn’t detected “national-level,” foreign interference campaigns targeting the presidential election, a senior CISA official told reporters Tuesday.
CISA issued a joint statement Monday with the FBI and Office of the Director of National Intelligence warning of potential interference from Russia and Iran. Cait Conley, a senior adviser to CISA Director Jen Easterly, told reporters Tuesday the agency wasn’t “tracking” foreign influence campaigns on a national scale but said don't “be surprised if we do.”
She declined to link Russia to reported bomb threats in Georgia, saying the incidents were deemed “non-credible.” In addition, Conley wouldn’t link foreign actors to fabricated FBI warnings urging people to vote remotely due to terror threats. In addition to a news clip faking its association with the bureau, the FBI identified videos with fake government warnings about rigged inmate voting in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona. The FBI didn’t comment Tuesday.
“At this time we have not seen anything specific related to these events in terms of foreign influence operations,” said Conley.
However, she noted CISA has identified examples of foreign adversaries trying to conceal their identities online when sharing false information about election administration processes. Foreign influence actors have two objectives, she said: to undermine confidence in democratic institutions and to “sow partisan discord.” CISA expects continued efforts to further those two objectives in the coming days and weeks, she said.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., gave a similar warning in an X post Tuesday: “The threat won’t end when polls close -- stay alert for false information circulating online that could cast doubt on the authenticity of the results!”
Microsoft last month issued a warning about “sustained influence efforts” from Russia, Iran and China “aimed at undermining U.S. democratic processes.” The company claimed Russians are focused on discrediting Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' campaign, while Iranian actors targeted cyber efforts against Republican nominee Donald Trump's campaign.
CISA’s joint statement with the FBI and DNI on Monday cited recent Russian posts promoting an article “falsely claiming that U.S. officials across swing states plan to orchestrate election fraud using a range of tactics, such as ballot stuffing and cyber attacks.” The agencies also cited Russian amplification of a fake video claiming “election fraud in Arizona, which involved creating fake overseas ballots and changing voter rolls to favor Vice President Kamala Harris.”