Russians hacking into the U.S. voting system to influence the upcoming election is a concern of top cybersecurity officials, though differences between the states’ procedures provide some defensive advantage, according to the leader of U.S. Cyber Command.
At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, Adm. Michael Rogers, commander of Cyber Command, declined to talk about recent reports that the Russians are undertaking a secret operation to hack into the U.S. political system and ensure the outcome is favorable to Russia. Rogers said he can’t talk about the U.S. assessment in an open forum while an investigation is still ongoing.
But asked by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., if Russia hacking into the U.S. political system is a concern, Rogers replied, “oh, yes, sir.”
Rogers said Russians could disrupt the results in November’s election, but said differences between state voting procedures provide some protection and make it more difficult to hack.
“One advantage I do see from a defensive standpoint is that the structure is so disparate, with some elements being still very manually focused, others being more electronic and interconnected. Because it’s not just one nationwide single integrated structure, I think that tends to help us here,” he said.
