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The same US official also told CNN on Monday that cyber operations against foreign actors, across the spectrum of offensive and defensive measures, began before the election and will continue after the final vote is cast.
In the hours leading up to Election Day, officials warned Americans to remain calm and vigilant, as the period before final votes are cast and the days following present a ripe opportunity for adversaries looking to undermine the American democratic process.
But while election security officials expected a spike in foreign activity before Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security chief cyber official Chris Krebs told CNN that things have remained relatively quiet with the exception of a few ransomware attacks. .
Russia has recently engaged in some extensive cyber activities that resulted in incidental contact with the electoral infrastructure, and Iran “decided to get in the game” with targeted disinformation efforts, but officials are confident that vote counting and certification systems continue. being safe, according to Krebs and other US officials.
‘Exceptionally volatile’ period
Still, it is a “uniquely volatile” period, Senate Intelligence Committee Top Democrat Senator Mark Warner of Virginia said in a tweet on Monday. “Our adversaries will look to take advantage of that. Don’t make their job easier,” Warner said.
Other agencies, including the FBI and the cyber arm of the Department of Homeland Security, have issued a series of warnings in the final weeks of the campaign and on Monday, it was all in the hands of election security officials in several federal states. agencies as they prepared to respond to a variety of potential foreign threats, ranging from cyberattacks to targeted disinformation efforts.
Among those agencies were the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, which are tasked with defending voting systems against foreign cyber actors and conducting offensive cyber operations against foreign adversaries who may attempt to interfere in the voting process. voting before, during or after Election Day.
Another official, this one from the U.S. Cyber Command, also made clear that the Pentagon and its interagency partners have been taking additional steps to prepare for the possibility of election day mayhem.
“USCYBERCOM has a 24/7 operations center and we are prepared specifically for the elections; however, we have integrated electoral defense into our daily operations. There are two parts to this: We are training our partners. and we are ready to act, “the US Cyber Command official told CNN.” We also have liaison officers integrated with our interagency partners, for better information flow and coordination. ”
Other federal agencies will also remain on high alert until and after Election Day, according to Krebs.
“Our federal partners will continue to operate in an improved posture, because we understand that it is a ripe opportunity for foreign adversaries to inject misinformation or misinformation into news cycles and try to undermine confidence,” he said on Friday. .
Concern over ‘Black Swan’ incidents
A US official told CNN that the persistent concern remains “black swan” incidents, unforeseen or unpredictable events that were not considered during months of coordinated preparation among federal, state and local officials.
The official added that this could consist of cyber incidents involving entities that are not directly linked to the electoral infrastructure, such as large-scale ransomware attacks against hospitals, which are perfect for undermining the system on a large scale. Although these types of attacks do not affect vote counting, they create the perception of doing so, the official added.
Election security officials will be prepared to respond should a foreign adversary decide to carry out an attack of any kind on Election Day.
“Like Super Tuesday, we have active chat rooms with our interagency partners. Our partners will have unclassified chat rooms with state and local entities, and if they receive information that could be valuable to the defense of the entire government, we can pivot on those. tips, so we can provide information, “said the US CyberCommand official.” Additionally, USCYBERCOM and NSA have the ability to alert private and interagency industry partners to act on the information – for example, we may detect a cyber event from an adversary and we can inform a partner about this anomaly, then within hours those partners can alert victims of cyber activity and participate in mitigation response. It is our ability to act and respond as an government as a whole at significant speed. ”
This stance will continue in the days after the elections, the official said: “We are still going to be focused on our adversaries after the elections.”
CNN’s Alex Marquardt contributed to this report.
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