December 19, 2023 at 07:51AM
A joint report by the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security confirms cyberattacks during the 2022 US mid-term election, including activities linked to Russia and China. Despite these efforts, there is no evidence of significant impact on election integrity or security. A separate report by the ODNI examines foreign efforts to influence US voters and undermine confidence in institutions.
From the meeting notes, the key takeaways are:
– A joint report from the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security confirms that cyber threat actors, including those connected to Russia and China, conducted cyber activities during the 2022 mid-term election. However, there is no evidence of significant impact on the integrity or security of the election.
– The report details specific cyber activities, such as a DDoS attack launched by pro-Russian hacktivists and Chinese threat actors scanning state government websites and collecting publicly available voter information.
– While some cybercriminals managed to compromise US state and local government networks, there is no evidence that their activities prevented voting, changed votes, disrupted vote tallying, or compromised voter registration information and ballots.
– The US intelligence community previously assessed the difficulty for foreign actors to manipulate election processes at scale without being detected.
– It’s noted that the report from the DOJ and DHS does not cover the impact of foreign efforts to sway voters or influence opinion. This aspect is addressed in a separate report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which shows the involvement of China, Russia, Iran, and others in activities aimed at influencing voting and undermining confidence in US institutions, politicians, and elections.
These takeaways provide a clear summary of the cyber activities and the lack of significant impact on the integrity of the election, along with the separate report addressing efforts to influence voting and undermine confidence in US institutions.