FBI tells public to ignore false claims of hacked voter data

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are alerting the public of false claims that the U.S. voter registration data has been compromised in cyberattacks.

The two agencies note that malicious actors are spreading disinformation to manipulate public “opinion and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions.”

According to the PSA, the actors present publicly accessible data as evidence of the hacks.

“Malicious actors continue to spread false or misleading information in an attempt to manipulate public opinion and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions,” the announcement reads.

“One of the most common tactics involves using obtained voter registration information as evidence to support false claims that a cyber operation compromised election infrastructure.”

Voter registration data is publicly available and can be acquired from official sources, the PSA explains, so holding or republishing it does not constitute evidence of a compromise of voting infrastructure.

In terms of the practical consequences of foreign actors holding that information, FBI and CISA underline that it has no impact on the voting process or the election results.

As of today, intelligence agencies have no evidence of a cyberattack on U.S. election infrastructure that interrupted an election procedure or resulted in changes that would compromise the integrity of the process.

“The FBI and CISA have no information suggesting any cyberattack on U.S. election infrastructure has prevented an election from occurring, changed voter registration information, prevented an eligible voter from casting a ballot, compromised the integrity of any ballots cast, or disrupted the ability to count votes or transmit unofficial election results in a timely manner.” – CISA and FBI

In the public service announcement, the two agencies make the following recommendations:

• Don’t accept intrusion claims without evidence; they may aim to influence public opinion or undermine confidence in democracy.
• Be cautious of social media posts, emails, calls, or texts making suspicious claims about election security.
• For questions on election security, trust state and local election officials.
• Visit official state and local election websites (“.gov” domains) for accurate information.

This latest PSA comes a few months after CISA and the FBI decided to raise public awareness about false claims made by malicious actors that distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks targeting election infrastructure would compromise the integrity of the process.

Although DDoS attacks can temporarily disrupt the availability of some election-related services, like ballot-casting reporting and voter look-up tools, the voting process itself cannot be impacted, and there has never been an incident suggesting otherwise.

As the general elections in the U.S. approach, scheduled for November 5, citizens should be aware of attempts to weaken the public’s trust in the process by foreign actors with geopolitical motives.