Washington.- The security of U.S. election systems has become so strong that Russia, Iran or any other foreign adversary will not be able to alter the outcome of this year’s presidential election, the head of the nation’s cybersecurity agency said Wednesday.
Jen Easterly commented in an interview with The Associated Press that voting, ballot counting and other election infrastructure is now more secure than ever.
“Malicious actors, even if they try, will not be able to have an impact of a magnitude that would have a significant effect on the outcome of the election,” said Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Federal agencies have warned of growing attempts, particularly by Russia and Iran, to influence the electorate ahead of the Nov. 5 election, and conspiracy theories about the election have caused millions of Americans to doubt the validity of the election results. process.
Easterly said his efforts are primarily aimed at sowing discord among Americans and undermining faith in the security of the nation’s elections.
U.S. officials have spent recent months warning, through criminal charges, sanctions and public warnings, that foreign adversaries are intensifying their efforts to influence the White House race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.
Last month, President Joe Biden’s administration seized the domain of more than two dozen fake websites run by the Kremlin and accused two Russian state media employees of hatching a scheme to covertly fund right-wing influencers. .
Last week, three Iranian agents were charged with hacking Trump’s campaign team in what the Justice Department said was part of a broad effort to harm the former president and undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system.
Intelligence agencies and technology companies have tracked Russian and Iranian actors using fake websites and social media profiles to spread disinformation, stoke division and potentially influence American voters. Iran and Russia have attempted to influence previous US elections through disinformation and hacking.
Easterly noted that China was also “very interested” in influencing the 2024 elections.
Beyond influence campaigns, he said his agency had not detected any activity targeting electoral systems.
“We have not seen any specific cyber activity designed to interfere with existing election infrastructure or processes,” Easterly said.
The prevalence of electoral misinformation has become a widespread concern, and government secretaries and some of the largest local electoral offices have launched specific initiatives to combat it.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a letter to Easterly last week urging the agency to take more action against election misinformation, including coordinating with network platforms. social networks to combat false claims.
In the interview, Easterly acknowledged “a very convoluted and confusing reporting environment,” and said his agency works with election officials to promote accurate reporting. However, he also made it clear that his agency does not monitor social media or attempt to moderate its content.
“That is not our function,” he said.
He encouraged voters who have questions about how elections are handled to contact their local elections office and even volunteer as poll workers to understand the process and safeguards in place.
“In the coming months there will be a lot of information. It will be up to each voter to be able to distinguish what is reliable from what is not,” Easterly said. “That reliable source is local and state election officials.”
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