Russia not hacking elections yet, DHS official says

Still, lawmaker contends ‘we need to be prepared’

WASHINGTON – There is no evidence so far that Russian hackers are mounting the kind of “robust” attacks on state election systems this year that they did in 2016, a top homeland security official told a House panel Wednesday.

“The 2018 midterms remain a potential target for Russian actors,” said Christopher Krebs, undersecretary of the national protection and programs directorate at the Department of Homeland Security.

“But the intelligence community has yet to see any evidence of a robust campaign aimed at tampering with our election infrastructure along the lines of 2016 or influencing the makeup of the House or Senate races,” Krebs told the House Homeland Security Committee at a hearing on election security.

In 2016, Russian hackers tried to breach election systems in at least 21 states, according to homeland security officials. Although no actual votes were changed, hackers broke into Illinois’ voter registration database and stole some information.

Krebs said it’s likely that the hackers actually scanned the election systems of all 50 states for vulnerabilities.

Russia also mounted a major effort in 2016 to influence the U.S. election through social media use. Russian troll farms created fake social media accounts and websites to try to sow dissent among Americans on issues such as race, gay rights and gun control.

Krebs told lawmakers that the Russians are at it again this year.

The intelligence community sees the Russians using social media “to influence or inflame positions on opposite ends of controversial issues,” Krebs said. “These efforts seem to be more focused on dividing rather than on targeting specific politicians or political candidates. Nonetheless, we remain vigilant and any attempt to undermine our democracy will be met with consequences.”

State election and homeland security officials will meet in Philadelphia this week to keep cooperating on how to fix the cybersecurity of state elections systems, Krebs said.

The Russians will target the congressional midterm elections this November, said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the committee chairman. “We need to be prepared,” he said.