In the weeks and months leading up to Election Day 2016, states have made preparations to increase the security of their election systems, despite assurance from the U.S. Intelligence Community (“USIC”) that it would be extremely difficult for someone to alter ballot counts or elections results via cyber-attack or intrusion.  USIC’s assessment was based on the decentralized nature of our election system and the number of protections state and local election officials have in place, such as ensuring that voting machines are not connected to the internet.  Even so, the steady hacking and release of emails, including those from Democratic Party institutions, have demonstrated that certain hackers are committed to disrupting and discrediting the U.S. election process. 

On October 7, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (“DNI”) released a joint statement confirming that the Russian government was behind the recent e-mail hacking of U.S. persons and institutions.  The release states that the agencies are “confident” that the recent disclosures of hacked e-mails are consistent with the “methods and motivations” of Russian-directed efforts and are aimed at disrupting the integrity of the U.S. elections.  Dmitri Alperovitch, the chief technology officer of CrowdStrike, said last week that Russia is targeting the United States’ elections with an “unprecedented influence operation.”

DHS reported that several states have seen scanning and probing of their election systems, in many cases originating from servers operated by a Russian company (although DHS notes that it is not yet able to attribute this activity to the Russian government).  Given the rise in such activity, DHS has encouraged states to be vigilant and has offered to help states and local governments test and prepare their election systems.  DHS offered to assist with cyber “hygiene” scans, risk and vulnerability assessments, information sharing, and best practices for securing voter registration databases and addressing potential cyber threats.  As of last week, forty-six states had accepted DHS’s offer to help. 

In a letter to the National Board of State Election Directors, House and Senate Leaders encouraged states to “take full advantage of the robust public and private sector resources available to them to ensure that their network infrastructure is secure from attack,” and reminded states that DHS “stands ready to provide cybersecurity assistance to those states that choose to request it.”

In addition to help from DHS, Ohio is using the National Guard to help keep the state’s elections systems safe.  Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted said last week that the National Guard’s cyberprotection unit will be testing the state’s computer system for vulnerabilities ahead of the November 8 election.