Russian hackers have targeted the networks of dozens of state and local governments in the United States in recent days, and have stolen data from at least two servers.
Iran and Russia have obtained voter registration information and are sending disinformation to Americans ahead of election day, the leaders of U.S. intelligence agencies and the FBI warned.“However, the actor may be seeking access to obtain future disruption options, to influence U.S. policies and actions, or to delegitimize [state and local] government entities,” the advisory said.
A broad concern, particularly at the local government level, has been that hackers could infiltrate a county network and then work their way over to election-related systems unless certain defenses, such as firewalls, are in place. This is especially true for smaller counties that don’t have as much money and IT support as their bigger counterparts to fund security upgrades.
Despite that activity, Russia is widely regarded in the cybersecurity community as the bigger threat to the election. The U.S. has said that Russia, which interfered in the 2016 election in part by hacking Democratic email accounts, is interfering again this year partly through a concerted effort to denigrate President Trump’s Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.
Chris Krebs, director of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said Thursday that the alert was issued in regard to scanning of county networks for vulnerabilities, not specifically targeting the election. “There was access in a couple limited cases to an election-related network,” he said.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
United States vs Google vindicates old antitrust gripes from MicrosoftThe U.S. government's antitrust suit against Alphabet Inc's Google on Tuesday could deliver a huge opportunity for Microsoft Corp to increase usage of its Bing search engine, an unexpected epilogue years after it abandoned a long campaign for legal relief.
Read more »
United Airlines tests COVID-19 ‘health pass’ to kick-start global travel againThe CommonPass app allows travelers to document their COVID-19 status electronically and present it when they cross a border.
Read more »
Rashford strikes late as United sink PSG againManchester United got their Champions League campaign underway in emphatic style when Marcus Rashford's late goal earned them a 2-1 victory at Paris St Germain on Tuesday, handing the French champions their first group-stage home defeat in 16 years.
Read more »
United Airlines testing global health app on UK-U.S. flight in effort to reopen bordersUnited Airlines is set on Wednesday to test a digital health pass under a global pilot program seeking to establish a common international standard for COVID-19 test results and eventually vaccine records that could help reopen borders.
Read more »
US: Russian hackers targeting state, local networksU.S. says Russian hackers targeted state and local governments ahead of the election, stealing data from two servers. Officials did not say who was targeted, and said they have no information that the integrity of elections data has been compromised.
Read more »
Russian Hacks of U.S. Government Networks Prompt Election WarningRussian government hackers have targeted dozens of state and local government and aviation computer networks since last month and stolen data from at least two servers, two federal agencies said Thursday.
Read more »