CYBERSECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY

Top state election and cybersecurity officials are warning about the threat posed by Russia and other foreign adversaries ahead of the 2024 elections.

Election officials have a long list of challenges as they prepare for the upcoming midterms.

Multiple U.S. government agencies have issued a joint alert announcing the discovery of malicious cyber tools capable of gaining “full system access” to multiple industrial control systems.

Security pros say it’s one of the worst computer vulnerabilities they’ve ever seen.

Those entrusted with securing the nation’s voting systems must remain nonpartisan as a myriad of complex and growing risks continue to threaten U.S. elections.

A prominent cybersecurity firm says suspected state-backed Chinese hackers exploited widely used networking devices to spy for months on dozens of high-value government, defense industry and financial sector targets in the U.S. and Europe.

President Joe Biden has selected two former senior National Security Agency officials for key cyber roles in his administration.

Klain is preparing to serve as President-elect Joe Bidens chief of staff, a job often referred to as the nations chief operating officer. “Those who are responsible are going to face consequences for it,” said Biden chief of staff Ron Klain. On Sunday, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, blasted Trump for putting the U.S. at continuing risk. Christopher Krebs, former director of CISA, highlighted the challenges ahead as Trump dismisses the threat and Biden prepares for his Jan. 20 inauguration. “The federal civilian agencies, the 101 civilian agencies, are not really optimized for defense right now,” Krebs said.

The nation's cybersecurity agency warned of a “grave” risk to government and private networks. The hack compromised federal agencies and “critical infrastructure” in a sophisticated attack that was hard to detect and will be difficult to undo, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in an unusual warning message Thursday. CISA officials did not respond to questions and so it was unclear what the agency meant by a “grave threat” or by “critical infrastructure” possibly targeted in the attack that the agency says appeared to have begun last March. The agency previously said the perpetrators had used network management software from Texas-based SolarWinds t o infiltrate computer networks. Members of Congress said they feared that taxpayers’ personal information could have been exposed because the IRS is part of Treasury, which used SolarWinds software.

The nation's cybersecurity agency warned of a “grave” risk to government and private networks. The hack compromised federal agencies and “critical infrastructure” in a sophisticated attack that was hard to detect and will be difficult to undo, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in an unusual warning message. CISA officials did not respond to questions and so it was unclear what the agency meant by a “grave threat” or by “critical infrastructure” possibly targeted in the attack that the agency says appeared to have begun last March. The agency previously said the perpetrators had used network management software from Texas-based SolarWinds t o infiltrate computer networks. Members of Congress said they feared that taxpayers’ personal information could have been exposed because the IRS is part of Treasury, which used SolarWinds software.

The intrusion was stark evidence of the vulnerability of even supposedly secure government networks, even after well-known previous attacks. U.S. authorities acknowledged that federal agencies were affected by the breach on Sunday, providing few details. The national cybersecurity agencies of Britain and Ireland issued similar alerts. SolarWinds is used by hundreds of thousands of organizations around the world, including most Fortune 500 companies and multiple U.S. federal agencies. “It’s obviously incredibly significant and widespread,” said Chris Painter, who coordinated cyber-policy at the State Department during the Obama administration.

The threat apparently came from the same cyberespionage campaign that has afflicted FireEye, foreign governments and major corporations, and the FBI was investigating. FireEye’s customers include federal, state and local governments and top global corporations. Cybersecurity experts said last week that they considered Russian state hackers to be the main suspect in the FireEye hack. Federal government agencies have long been attractive targets for foreign hackers. “I suspect that there’s a number of other (federal) agencies we’re going to hear from this week that have also been hit,” Williams added.

While abrupt, the dismissal Tuesday of Christopher Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, was not a surprise. Hours before being dismissed, Krebs tweeted out a report citing 59 election security experts saying there is no credible evidence of computer fraud in the 2020 election outcome. Biden campaign spokesman Michael Gwin noted that bipartisan election officials have dismissed Trump’s claims of widespread fraud. Some state election officials and Republicans, suspicious of federal intrusion on their turf, were opposed to the designation. But the Trump administration supported the designation, and, eventually, skeptical state officials welcomed the assistance.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired the director of the federal agency that vouched for the reliability of the 2020 election. a former Microsoft executive, ran the agency, known as CISA, from its creation in the wake of Russian interference with the 2016 election through the November election. He won bipartisan praise as CISA coordinated federal state and local efforts to defend electoral systems from foreign or domestic interference. Some state election officials and Republicans, suspicious of federal intrusion on their turf, were opposed to the designation. But the Trump administration supported the designation, and, eventually, skeptical state officials welcomed the assistance.

While abrupt, the dismissal of Christopher Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, was not a surprise. Hours before being dismissed, Krebs tweeted out a report citing 59 election security experts saying there is no credible evidence of computer fraud in the 2020 election outcome. Biden campaign spokesman Michael Gwin noted that bipartisan election officials have dismissed Trump’s claims of widespread fraud. Some state election officials and Republicans, suspicious of federal intrusion on their turf, were opposed to the designation. But the Trump administration supported the designation, and, eventually, skeptical state officials welcomed the assistance.

Rigged Election!” Trump tweeted. With Democrat Joe Biden leading Trump by wide margins in key battleground states, none of the issues would have any impact on the outcome of the election. Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result." Krebs has been vocal on Twitter in repeatedly reassuring Americans that the election was secure and that their votes would be counted. Chris Sununu, who endorsed Trump’s reelection, became the latest Republican official to say what Trump and his allies refuse to accept.

Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result. There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised. In Michigan, Trump and his team have filed a lawsuit in an effort to halt the state’s certification of its election results. The Trump campaign is suing Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson along with the Wayne County and the Michigan Board of Canvassers, which are in charge of reviewing elections. More: Hundreds provide testimonies -- but no real evidence -- in Trump campaign lawsuit to stop certification of Michigan election results

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and some of his Republican supporters are testing out a rallying cry for his uphill fight to reverse the lead that Joe Biden holds in key battleground states: count all “legal” votes. The language is freighted with a clear implication, namely that Democrats want illegal votes counted, a claim for which there is no evidence. That has not stopped the chorus of Republican leadership arguing all legal ballots must be counted, including from the Governor of Georgia, freshly re-elected Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and the Vice President. In Nevada, a lawsuit alleges that ineligible votes were cast in the Las Vegas area, the biggest Democratic stronghold in an otherwise predominantly GOP state. “When these kind of lawsuits are filed it just breeds contempt for the whole legal system,” he said.

___6:05 p.m.Democrat Joe Biden is adding to his lead over President Donald Trump in Georgia. ___5:25 p.m.Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris is expected to deliver remarks Friday alongside Joe Biden. Biden is on the cusp of victory as he opened narrow leads over President Donald Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania. The emergency request Friday came as Democrat Joe Biden inched ahead of President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. ___4:40 a.m.Democrat Joe Biden is now leading President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia.

(AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)WASHINGTON – Earlier this month, President Donald Trump was predicting on Twitter that this election would be “the most corrupt” in American history. Christopher Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, closed an online conference with a warning about “bad guys, whoever they are,” trying to “sow chaos, sow doubt” about the integrity of the U.S. election. “I have confidence that your vote is secure, that state and local election officials across this country are working day in and day out, 24/7, that the 2020 election is as secure as possible,” Krebs said. Some state election officials and Republicans, suspicious of federal intrusion on their turf, were opposed to the designation. But the Trump administration supported the designation, and, eventually, skeptical state officials welcomed the assistance.

The issues identified in the public service announcements run the gamut from the spread of online disinformation about the electoral process to cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure. That's precisely what the FBI and CISA are warning may take place to trick Americans during the election. Besides spreading false information, officials say, such spoofed websites and email accounts can gather personally identifiable information and spread malicious software. The U.S. agencies say they have no information that any attack targeting election infrastructure has compromised the integrity of election results or the accuracy of voter registration information, prevented a registered voter from casting a ballot, or prevented an election from occurring. In 2016, Russia searched for vulnerabilities in state elections systems across the U.S. and also breached the Illinois voter registration system.