“The Trump administration could soon follow their lead.” More …
Elections
Securing Elections From Foreign Interference
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Amid ongoing investigations into Russia’s unprecedented cyberattacks around the 2016 election, this report outlines specific actions Congress and local election officials can quickly take to insulate voting technology from continued foreign interference. The authors focus on assessing and securing two of the most vulnerable points in the system: voting machines, which could be hacked to cast doubt on or change vote totals; and voter registration databases, which could be manipulated in an attempt to block voters, cause disruption, and undermine confidence when citizens vote. Amb. R. James Woolsey, Director of Central Intelligence 1993-95, wrote the foreword for the report. He has been a key voice elevating the seriousness of the issue, and framing foreign interference as a pressing national security threat.” More …
Study: Bots Have Turned Twitter Into a Powerful Political Disinformation Platform
“As if Twitter’s reputation hasn’t been battered enough, a new stidy sheds light on how the social media platform can be hijacked by bots to spread political disinformation during election campaigns.” More …
Intel Chiefs Tell Investigators Trump Suggested They Refute Collusion with Russians
“Two of the nation’s top intelligence officials told Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team and Senate investigators, in separate meetings last week, that President Donald Trump suggested they say publicly there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russians, according to multiple sources. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Adm. Mike Rogers described their interactions with the President about the Russia investigation as odd and uncomfortable, but said they did not believe the President gave them orders to interfere, according to multiple sources familiar with their accounts.” More …
GOP Data Firm Leaks Personal Details of Nearly 200 Million American Voters
“Political data gathered on more than 198 million US citizens was exposed this month after a marketing firm contracted by the Republican National Committee stored internal documents on a publicly accessible Amazon server. The data leak contains a wealth of personal information on roughly 61 percent of the US population. Along with home addresses, birthdates, and phone numbers, the records include advanced sentiment analyses used by political groups to predict where individual voters fall on hot-button issues such as gun ownership, stem cell research, and the right to abortion, as well as suspected religious affiliation and ethnicity.” More …
New Details of Russia Election Hacking Raise Questions About Obama’s Response
“Obama and advisers were concerned any pre-election response could trigger escalation from Putin or be interpreted as motivated on behalf of Clinton.” More …
Stunning Intelligence: Putin’s Hackers Instructed to Damage Clinton, Help Elect Trump
“U.S. intelligence agencies had sourcing deep inside the Russian government capturing Vladimir Putin’s direct instructions to damage Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning and help elect Donald Trump.” More …
Russian Hackers Targeted Dallas County Servers Before Presidential Election
“Russian hackers took aim at Dallas County’s Web servers, possibly trying to access voter registration rolls, before the November presidential election, officials said … ” More …
Election Hackers Altered Voter Rolls, Stole Private Data, Officials Say
“The hacking of state and local election databases in 2016 was more extensive than previously reported, including at least one successful attempt to alter voter information, and the theft of thousands of voter records that contain private information like partial Social Security numbers, current and former officials tell TIME.” More …
Ex-Homeland Security Chief Jeh Johnson: DNC and State Officials Dismissed Russia Warnings Last Year
“Former President Barack Obama’s secretary of homeland security says that his efforts to protect the country from Russian cyberattacks last year were twice rebuffed — first by the Democratic National Committee and then later by state election officials who feared he was plotting an unwarranted ‘federal takeover’ of the U.S. election system.” More …