U.S. cybersecurity officials warn of foreign efforts to sow doubt and chaos around election

From disinformation to hacking and leaking, America’s adversaries have never been this busy before an election. U.S. intelligence officials have detailed Russian disinformation, Iranian hacking and leaking efforts and a Chinese focus on congressional candidates critical of Beijing. Nick Schifrin discussed more with Jen Easterly of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Amna Nawaz:
Today a U.S. official accused Russia and China of spreading disinformation about the U.S. government’s response to hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Geoff Bennett:
It’s just the latest example of foreign disinformation ahead of the election.
Nick Schifrin speaks to the official in charge of U.S. cybersecurity and critical infrastructure about efforts to secure the vote.
Nick Schifrin:
From disinformation to hacking and leaking, America’s adversaries have never been this busy before an election, the latest example today.
This fake image posted by a Russian news agency purports to show Disney World flooded. A U.S. official said today this was probably generated by artificial intelligence and then shared by pro-Kremlin English language accounts. U.S. intelligence officials have detailed Russian disinformation, Iranian hacking and leaking efforts, and a Chinese focus on congressional candidates critical of Beijing.
Joining us to talk about all of this is Jen Easterly, the director of CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Jen Easterly, thank you very much. Welcome back to the “News Hour.”
Jen Easterly, Director, U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency: Great to be here.
Nick Schifrin:
Let’s start with Russian disinformation.
In addition to the image that I just showed, on Friday, you and the FBI called out this fake video that purports to show ballots for former President Trump being ripped up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Microsoft says this was done by a Russian actor known as Storm-1516.
Can you confirm that? And how were you able to determine so quickly that this was Russian disinformation?
Jen Easterly:
We have really tried to refine the process where the intelligence community, the FBI and their team that does forensic analysis, we all work together when information is identified from our foreign adversaries that’s specifically focused on undermining confidence in the integrity of our elections.
And we were very intent on getting that out as rapidly as possible. I will note that the Bucks County election officials actually were the first to identify that as likely a fake video. And one of the things — given this information environment that we are all experiencing, one of the things that Americans should know is that trusted source is your state or local county election officials.
They’re the best folks to go to get the accurate information about voting.
Nick Schifrin:
More examples that we have seen called out by the federal government includes a fake video accusing Vice President Harris of poaching a rare rhino in Zambia. Microsoft says that was believed to be created by Storm-1516 as well.
Last month, the Department of Justice called out a Russian group known as Doppelganger for creating fake Web sites you see there with divisive narratives. Another group known as Rybar or Volga Flood called out by the State Department for amplifying false information about the border.
In 2016, there was little of this naming and shaming. What do you accomplish by outing these, again, relatively quickly?
Jen Easterly:
It’s important to talk about 2016 because that was a wake-up call.
And, so, much has changed over the past eight years, to include the federal government, the intelligence community, the FBI and CISA coming together to be much more proactive in terms of ensuring that the American people are empowered with information about what our foreign adversaries are doing.
And I think it’s important that we actually look at that, because Russia, Iran, China, they all do slightly different tactics. They use generative A.I. to develop fake personas and fake Web sites, but they’re both — all three are focused on two main goals, to undermine American confidence in the integrity of our elections and to stoke partisan discord, to pit Americans against each other.
Nick Schifrin:
Is Russia planning for stoking violence either on Election Day or after?
Jen Easterly:
The intelligence community assesses that there could very likely be efforts to foment violence, particularly in the days following November 5, because we know the election is not over when the polls close.
And it may be very close in some of the battleground states, so it may take a couple days to work through the recounts or the audits. And into that space of uncertainty and ambiguity, our foreign adversaries are going to try to undermine American confidence in the legitimacy of our election. We cannot allow that to happen, Nick.
Nick Schifrin:
I want to move to China.
And one of your missions, of course, is to help critical infrastructure, as you describe it, and that includes telecommunications companies. A U.S. official confirms to me there has been a — quote — “broad compromise” of numerous telecom by Chinese hackers known as Salt Typhoon.
How broad is it? Can you describe it? And how could it happen?
Jen Easterly:
It’s early days. When we found out about it, we worked with the FBI to notify victims, and we are working with them to remediate and to help us understand the scope and scale of this campaign.
We know that the Chinese are investing a lot of their resources into not just espionage and counterintelligence, but burrowing deep into our critical infrastructure for disruption and destruction. So nobody should be terribly surprised about this.
We have also talked about Chinese malign influence operations with respect to downballot candidates.
Nick Schifrin:
Can you confirm, though, when it comes to Salt Typhoon, the Chinese hackers that we’re talking about in terms of telecommunications, that that hack is related to what the Trump campaign announced last week, that former President Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, were targeted, as well as Harris campaign being targeted as well?
Is that related? Can you confirm that?
Jen Easterly:
Yes, I would defer to the FBI that is involved in that investigation.
I do want to make a really important point, Nick, because we have been talking about how active our foreign adversaries are in this space. And at the end of the day, I want Americans to know that there has been so much work done over the past eight years by election officials who, at the end of the day, are on the front lines of our elections.
And election infrastructure has never been more secure. So, yes, our foreign adversaries are going to try to influence our elections to make us think that there are issues with them. But elections are secure. And no matter who you vote for, you should have confidence in your vote.
Nick Schifrin:
Were Chinese hackers targeting the intelligence community’s requests to courts to authorize wiretaps?
Jen Easterly:
Yes, the investigation is ongoing on that. It really is early days.
Nick Schifrin:
On Iran, I referenced hacking and leaking efforts. Iran gained access to the Trump campaign and tried to leak stolen information to the mainstream media. Most of those media outlets rejected or declined to publish this hacked information.
But you can find that hacked information online if you go certain places. Have we learned the lessons of 2016?
Jen Easterly:
Well, I think it’s a very different world from 2016. I do think we should realize that these foreign actors are more active, more sophisticated.
Generative A.I. makes a real difference here. And so what we have seen with Iran, we put out a statement on it. There was obviously the Department of Justice did an indictment around it. But there will be more of this. We should expect there to be more of this. And we should expect our foreign adversaries to be very active in the days after the election, probably going to January 6, when the election will be certified by the Congress.
Nick Schifrin:
And how are you so confident sitting here and making that point that this election is the securest in history, despite everything we have been talking about?
Jen Easterly:
First, got to remember, election infrastructure, the voting systems where Americans cast their ballots, not connected to the Internet, so very difficult for somebody to hack into those voting machines.
Secondly, over 97 percent paper ballots that voters can look at and verify themselves. Third, multiple layers of safeguards that election officials have put in place. And then, finally, you got to remember every state runs things differently. This is a great strength. The diverse and decentralized nature of our election infrastructure means that a bad actor can’t tamper with or manipulate our infrastructure in a way that could have an impact on the outcome at scale, certainly not without being detected.
Nick Schifrin:
Jen Easterly, thank you very much.
Jen Easterly:
Thanks, Nick.