Officials: Russian hackers targeted Arizona, Illinois election systems
 
 
A spokesman for Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan (R) said Monday that the FBI told state officials in June that Russians were behind a hack targeting the Arizona voter registration system.
The spokesman, Matt Roberts, told The Washington Post the FBI said the threat was "an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10." Reagan shut down the system for almost a week, and investigators determined that the hackers did not compromise any state or county systems, but did get the user name and password of an elections official in Gila County. Roberts said the FBI did not say if the hackers were part of the Russian government.
In July, Illinois officials also found that hackers were able to get into their election systems, The Post reports. No data was altered, but they were able to retrieve "a fairly small percentage of the total" of voter records, said Ken Menzel, general counsel for the Illinois elections board. After notifying the FBI, state officials closed the voter registration system down for a week. "I'm less concerned about the attackers getting access to and downloading the information," Brian Kalkin, vice president of operations for the Center for Internet Security, told The Post. "I'm more concerned about the information being altered, modified, or deleted. That's where the real potential is for any sort of meddling in the election."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
 
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
- 
 How the clock change could impact your finances How the clock change could impact your financesThe winter months can be more expensive but there are ways to keep your costs down 
- 
 ‘This estrangement from death has beget euphemisms’ ‘This estrangement from death has beget euphemisms’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day 
- 
 Political cartoons for October 30 Political cartoons for October 30Cartoons Thursday's political cartoons include missing SNAP benefits, working without pay, and Graham Platner's terrible tattoo 
- 
 Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariff Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax 
- 
 Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICE Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch 
- 
 Shutdown stalemate nears key pain points Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff 
- 
 Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan ad Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy 
- 
 NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footage NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges 
- 
 Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East Wing Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction 
- 
 Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 more Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters 
- 
 Trump demands millions from his administration Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations 
