Roy Lamberton’s Post

Exclusive: A high-level election security group is back. NSA and Cyber Command want to keep it under the radar

From hostile foreign entities to home-grown conspiracy theorists, the landscape of election security is more complex and perilous than ever before. In simple terms: brace yourself. Collaborative vigilance can help – check out our advice for navigating the cybersecurity minefield of election season: https://ow.ly/H0J650R57ja

Disaggregated systems. It's a thing and a good one for security. The concern should be "distraction and chaos" attacks by threat actors and insider threats that want the cover from chaos to dismiss valid results, and the groundwork being laid for 2020 Big Lie 2.0 strategies (be a good idea to look at what has been happening in GA with its election board trying to unilaterally change the law last minute and NV and few other states where counties are testing out refusal to complete certification).

#IPspyCyberSecAlert - Cyber Security News This Week! Threats of violence and cybersecurity concerns · Artificial intelligence and the disinformation challenge · Related News.

In the field of election security they talk about "vote tallying systems" almost to the exclusion of other cybersecurity threats to elections. The attacks on the American electorate aren't only directed at changing a number in a database or a spreadsheet. The adversaries of American democracy are engaged in attacks of all kinds. In 2016 rather infamously Russian hackers broke into the email systems of both the Republican and Democratic political parties. They publicly released some emails from Democratic Party employees, trying to fuel "Pizzagate" rumors. There's been speculation that they may have used what they found in Republican Party emails in a different way ("kompromat"). Within the past few months Iranian hackers tried to break into the information systems of both political parties, succeeding in stealing information from the GOP and releasing some of that to the public. The GOP was then broken into a second time just a few weeks later. We need to understand that the adversaries are attacking along several vectors against many targets, not all of which are as obvious as those examples. We still have work to do. Information security is national security. #SecureTheVote #electionsecurity #websecurity #infosec #natsec

security is reality 🌱

Interesting developments

Just another day in the office. Since the 19 August 2024 joint ODNI, FBI, and CISA public statement on Iranian Election Influence Efforts, the FBI has learned additional details about Iran’s efforts to sow discord and shape the outcome of U.S. elections. Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Biden’s campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails. There is currently no information indicating those recipients replied. Furthermore, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations. This malicious cyber activity is the latest example of Iran’s multi-pronged approach, as noted in the joint August statement, to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process. As the lead for threat response, the FBI has been tracking this activity, has been in contact with the victims, and will continue to investigate and gather information in order to pursue and disrupt the threat actors responsible. Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as we approach November. In particular, Russia, Iran, and China are trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their own benefit, and see election periods as moments of vulnerability. Efforts by these, or other foreign actors, to undermine our democratic institutions are a direct threat to the U.S. and will not be tolerated. The FBI and CISA encourage campaigns and election infrastructure stakeholders to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to their local Election Crimes Coordinators via FBI field office (https://lnkd.in/gfxriTXa), by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), or online at https://www.ic3.gov. Cyber incidents impacting election infrastructure can also be reported to CISA by calling 1-844-SAY-CISA (1-844-729-2472), emailing report@cisa.dhs.gov, or reporting online at https://lnkd.in/gK-YwEUY. Election infrastructure stakeholders and the public can find additional resources about how to protect against cyber and physical threats at CISA’s #PROTECT2024 (https://lnkd.in/gahGA44f ###

It's that time again... an election year in the US. Although elections security is a perennial concern, it gets more attention about every 4 years. This brief has some great perspectives. Take a look! #electionsecurity

#ICYMI Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency runs a program called the #Protect2024 initiative. This program is designed to provide comprehensive resources and support to state and local election officials, ensuring robust defenses against evolving cyber threats. The initiative includes a toolkit with best practices, disinformation countermeasures, and free cybersecurity services for election stakeholders. For those involved in election security, staying updated with CISA’s resources and engaging in their training programs can be crucial steps in safeguarding the integrity of upcoming elections. https://lnkd.in/e_wNPXbT