Foreign hackers recently infiltrated two state election systems, according to an alert from the FBI’s Cyber Division. Federal law enforcement officials said they uncovered evidence that foreign hackers penetrated Illinois’ election database and pulled off a similar computer attack in Arizona. Hackers breached the system to steal the personal data of up to 200,000 state voters.
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The FBI is warning elections officials to increase their cybersecurity after voting systems in two states were hacked. The FBI said that one of the IP addresses was involved in both state hacks.
An FBI alert warning election officials about the breach was leaked, and it was posted in a report by Yahoo News on Monday.
The FBI’s alert asks that states check with their election boards to report any similar activity.
The alert contained information about which IP addresses the hackers targeted and the specific commands and programs used to infiltrate state voter databases.
The warning came days after Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson hosted a call with state election officials to discuss cyber security and election infrastructure.
A cyberattack has also been targeted at IL election systems – specifically, the state’s voter database.
One official tells NBC News that the attacks have been attributed to Russian intelligence agencies.
The FBI investigators did not clarify whether the hackers were linked to the Kremlin or independent actors, Roberts said.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest says that has prompted the administration to debate whether federal officials should step in to ensure the security of the systems. The Arizona attack was less significant, introducing malware into the voter registration system but not successfully stealing any data.
Last week Senate minority leader Harry Reid asked the FBI to investigate evidence suggesting Russia may be trying to manipulate voting results in November, expressing concern about a “direct connection” between Republican candidate Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russian government.
Both the Arizona and IL state boards of elections didn’t immediately respond for comment.
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“Someone is trying to hack these databases, and they succeeded in exfiltrating data, which is significant in itself”, says Thomas Rid, a cybersecurity-focused professor in the War Studies department at King’s College of London and author of Rise of the Machines.
