WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Voters must be on high alert for foreign interference in the US election on November 3, the head of the US counterintelligence agency said Friday in a rare warning that the public should leak information, verify sources at online and report suspicious actions.
Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center William Evanina speaks during the Reuters Cyber Security Summit in Washington, USA, on October 31, 2017. REUTERS / Joshua Roberts
William Evanina, head of the National Center for Counterintelligence and Security (NCSC), said that with just over 100 days until the election, it was “imperative” that his agency share with voters some of the information about possible interference by US spies. have given to the campaigns. and legislators.
“The American public has a role to play in securing the elections, particularly in keeping vigilance against foreign influence,” said Evanina, who heads the counterintelligence branch of the United States Office, the Director of National Intelligence.
“At the most basic level, we encourage Americans to consume information critically, to review sources before republishing or disseminating messages, to practice good cyber hygiene and media literacy, and to report suspicious activities related to elections. the authorities, “he added. written statement.
A January 2017 U.S. intelligence community assessment found that Russia meddled in the 2016 election, and its goals included helping United States President Donald Trump, who has questioned whether Moscow interfered in that vote.
Given the complexity of America’s vote counting and auditing systems, Evanina said it would be “extraordinarily difficult for foreign adversaries to interrupt or change vote counts undetected.”
However, Evanina said that US spy agencies now see foreign adversaries trying to compromise US political campaigns and candidates, as well as electoral infrastructure.
He said that foreign nations are trying to influence American voters through social and traditional media, using topics like the coronavirus pandemic and national protests as forage for disinformation.
Evanina said her agency was primarily concerned about interference from China, Russia and Iran, although other unidentified countries and non-state actors “could also harm our electoral process.”
Top Democratic lawmakers complained that Evanina’s warning did not go far enough.
They said their statement “gives a false sense of equivalence to the actions of foreign adversaries by listing three countries with unequal intentions, motivations, and capacities.”
“The statement, furthermore, does not fully delineate the objective, nature, scope and ability to influence our election,” said Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the top Democratic intelligence committee, Senator Mark Warner and Rep. Adam Schiff in a statement.
“Simply saying, for example, that Russia seeks to ‘denigrate what it sees as an’ anti-Russia ‘establishment’ in the United States’ is so generic that it almost makes no sense,” the Democrats added.
Report by Mark Hosenball; Edition of Arshad Mohammed and Richard Chang
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