The Department of Homeland Security notified 21 states that it found evidence of Russian attempts to hack their elections systems, according to top state officials.
In a statement, Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas said that Wisconsin was one of 21 states that notified Friday about the Russian targeting, but DHS did not disclose which other states had been targeted.
The statement from WEC said that “Russian government cyber actors” unsuccessfully attempted to hack Wisconsin’s voter registration system in 2016.
The DHS revealed Internet-facing election infrastructure in Wisconsin was targeted by Russian government cyber actors who scanned Internet-connected election infrastructure, likely trying to obtain voter registration databases.
Additional states that also were notified include Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, according to the Associated Press.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon also revealed their election systems were also targeted.
Sec of State Steve Simon says Homeland Security confirms Russian hackers targeted MN Sec of State website–but no breach. pic.twitter.com/9OwgJbVjAr
— Timothy Blotz (@TimBlotzFOX9) September 22, 2017
The AP report said that in most cases the breaches were not successful, but didn’t specify which ones were a success.
Haas and WEC Chair Mark Thomsen said they were notified and have instructed staff to investigate why election officials were not informed sooner.
“This scanning had no impact on Wisconsin’s systems or the election,” Haas said. “Internet security provided by the state successfully protected our systems. Homeland Security specifically confirmed there was no breach or compromise of data.”
A DHS official revealed in June during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing that 21 states had been targeted, however officials refused to reveal which states were impacted. At the time, Wisconsin had not been notified and concluded it had not been targeted.
Special counsel Robert Mueller, alongside a number of congressional committees, is investigating Russian interference into the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.
