No signs of significant hacking issues on Election Day, cyber security officials say

General Paul Nakasone photo
General Paul Nakasone
(Image credit: Win McNamee / Staff/ Getty Images)

U.S. cybersecurity officials say there has not been any evidence of significant interference from hacking groups as polls across the nation open for the midterm elections. On the morning of Election Day, a senior Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency official told reporters they "continue to see no specific or credible threat to disrupt election infrastructure," CNN reports.

The CISA official said the agency expects possible low-level cyberattacks that could temporarily make state and local websites inaccessible but does not foresee any issues that would prevent citizens from casting their ballots.

"We continue to remain in high confidence in the security or resilience of the elections," the official stated.

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U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency are sharing live updates with other government agencies to ensure the midterms are safe from potential foreign threats, per a Tuesday statement from the general who oversees both operations.

"We continue to refine what we learned from the 2018 and 2020 elections," Gen. Paul Nakasone said. "We generate insight to enable defense of the homeland, and ultimately impose costs by degrading and exposing foreign adversary capabilities and operations."

Nakasone also reiterated that intelligence officials are also focusing on foreign influence campaigns that persist after the votes tallies come in following Election Day.

"Our work does not end on Nov. 8," Nakasone said.

A representative of the Defense Department said that twelve states activated National Guard troops for cyber support in local and state-level elections.

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Theara Coleman, The Week US

Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.