FBI and CISA: ‘Ignore false claims of hacked voter data’

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are alerting the public for false claims that cyberattacks have compromised the United States voter registration databases.

“As observed through multiple election cycles, foreign actors and cybercriminals continue to spread false information through various platforms to manipulate public opinion, discredit the electoral process, and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions. The FBI and CISA continue to work closely with federal, state, local, and territorial election partners and provide services and information to safeguard U.S. voting processes and maintain the resilience of the U.S. elections,” the FBI and CISA say in a joint public service announcement (PSA).

According to the law enforcement agencies, malicious actors continue to spread false or misleading information in an attempt to sow doubt about the democratic process of the United States presidential elections, which will take place in November.

In recent elections, when threat actors were able to obtain voter registration information, the acquisition of this data did not impact the voting process or election results. On the contrary: most voter information can be acquired legally through publicly available sources.

The FBI and CISA say there’s no indication that any cyberattack has compromised the election infrastructure. The agencies recommend not to take any of such claims seriously. In addition, they advise to be cautious of social media posts, unsolicited emails, phone calls or text messages from unknown users that make suspicious claims about the upcoming presidential elections.

“The FBI continues to investigate any claims of malicious cyber actors' attempts to target U.S. elections. Through our investigations, the FBI has identified that malicious actors commonly attempt to undermine public confidence in U.S. elections by grossly exaggerating about obtaining U.S. voter information,” Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division Cynthia Kaiser points out in a statement.

CISA Senior Advisor Cait Conley recently announced that DDoS attacks won’t impact the democratic elections. “DDoS attacks are one example of a tactic that we have seen used against election infrastructure in the past and will likely see again in the future, but they will NOT affect the security or integrity of the actual election,” she said.

In August, Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center warned that Iranian hackers are increasing their efforts to manipulate the course and outcome of the presidential elections.