DHS Statement On NBC News Coverage Of Election Hacking
WASHINGTON - Today,
Jeanette Manfra, National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Assistant
Secretary for the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications, released the
following statement regarding the recent NBC news coverage on the Department of
Homeland Security’s efforts to combat election hacking.
“Recent NBC reporting has
misrepresented facts and confused the public with regard to Department of
Homeland Security and state and local government efforts to combat election
hacking. First off, let me be clear: we have no evidence – old or new -
that any votes in the 2016 elections were manipulated by Russian hackers.
NBC News continues to falsely report my recent comments on attempted election
hacking – which clearly mirror my testimony before the Senate Intelligence
Committee last summer – as some kind of “breaking news,” incorrectly claiming a
shift in the administration’s position on cyber threats. As I said eight
months ago, a number of states were the target of Russian government cyber actors
seeking vulnerabilities and access to U.S. election infrastructure. In the
majority of cases, only preparatory activity like scanning was observed, while
in a small number of cases, actors were able to access the system but we have
no evidence votes were changed or otherwise impacted.
"NBC’s irresponsible reporting,
which is being roundly criticized elsewhere in the media and by security
experts alike, undermines the ability of the Department of Homeland Security,
our partners at the Election Assistance Commission, and state and local
officials across the nation to do our incredibly important jobs. While
we’ll continue our part to educate NBC and others on the threat, more
importantly, the Department of Homeland Security and our state and local partners
will continue our mission to secure the nation’s election systems.
"To our state and local partners
in the election community: there’s no question we’re making real and meaningful
progress together. States will do their part in how they responsibly manage and
implement secure voting processes. For our part, we’re going to continue
to support with risk and vulnerability assessments, offer cyber hygiene scans,
provide real-time threat intel feeds, issue security clearances to state
officials, partner on incident response planning, and deliver cybersecurity
training. The list goes on of how we’re leaning forward and helping our
partners in the election community. We will not stop, and will stand by
our partners to protect our nation’s election infrastructure and ensure that
all Americans can have confidence in our democratic elections.”
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