US govt notifies 21 states of polls hacking

WASHINGTON: The United States government told election officials in 21 states that hackers targeted their systems before last year’s presidential election.

The notification came roughly a year after US Department of Homeland Security officials first said states were targeted by hacking efforts possibly connected to Russia.

The states that were reportedly targeted included some key political battlegrounds, such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. The others were believed to be Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

Being targeted does not mean that sensitive voter data was manipulated or results were changed.

A hacker targeting a system without getting inside is similar to a burglar circling a house checking for unlocked doors and windows.

Even so, the widespread nature of the attempts and the year-long lag time in notification from Homeland Security raised concerns among officials and lawmakers.

For many states, the calls they received yesterday were the first official confirmation of whether their states were on the list – even though state election officials across the country have been calling for months for the US government to share information about any hacks, as have members of Congress.

“It is completely unacceptable that it has taken DHS over a year to inform our office of Russian scanning of our systems, despite our repeated requests for information,” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat, said.

“The practice of withholding critical information from elections offi- cials is a detriment to the security of our elections and our democracy.”

Senator Mark Warner, of Virginia, the top Democrat on a committee that’s investigating Russian meddling in last year’s election, has been pushing the department for months to reveal the identities of the targeted states.

He said states need such information in real time so they can strengthen their cyber defences.

Homeland Security said it recognises that state and local officials should be kept informed about cybersecurity risks to election infrastructure.— AP