Russia targeted 21 state election systems last year, Department of Homeland Security and FBI officials told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.
“We have evidence of election-related systems in 21 states that were targeted,” DHS Acting Deputy Secretary for Cybersecurity Jeanette Manfra told the panel. She was more specific in her prepared remarks for the hearing, in which she cited an intelligence report that she called an “initial look” into what Russia tried.
“While not a definitive source in identifying individual activity attributed to Russian government cyber actors, it established that Internetconnected election-related networks, including websites, in 21 states were potentially targeted by Russian government cyber actors,” she said of the report in her testimony.
“Although we’ve refined our understanding of individual targeted networks, supported by classified reporting, the scale and scope noted in that October 2016 report still generally characterizes our observations: a small number of networks were successfully compromised, there were a larger number of states where attempts to compromise networks were unsuccessful, and there were an even greater number of states where only preparatory activity like scanning was observed,” she added.
Only Arizona and Illinois have been disclosed as states that came under attack. DHS has not yet disclosed the names of the other states, something Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said he “fundamentally disagree[s]” with.
“I think we need a re-examination of this policy,” he said, asking Manfra to consult with DHS Secretary John Kelly about getting the panel more information.
Bill Priestap, assistant director of FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, said Russia’s efforts were its “boldest to date” in the U.S.
“Moscow employed a multi-faceted approach intended to undermine confidence in our democratic process,” he said in his prepared remarks. “Russia’s activities included efforts to discredit Secretary Clinton and to publicly contrast her unfavorably with President Trump.”
“This Russian effort included the weaponization of stolen cyber information, the use of Russia’s English-language state media as a strategic messaging platform, and the mobilization of social media bots and trolls to spread disinformation and amplify Russian messaging,” he added.
However, when asked by Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., whether vote tallies were changed anywhere, both Manfra and Priestap said there was none.
“The FBI has not made an assessment of any impact that the Russian activities might have had on the outcome of the 2016 election; instead, I am here to discuss Russia’s activities and the importance of combating them,” he said in his testimony.
