Russia Compromised Seven States Prior to 2016 Election
According to NBC News, the U.S. intelligence community found substantial evidences that state websites or voter registration systems in seven states were compromised by Russian-backed covert operatives prior to the 2016 election.
Three senior intelligence officials told NBC News that states were Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin.
According to these officials, the states involved were informed that foreign entities were probing their systems, but were not informed that the Russian government was behind it.
NBC New reports, “The systems in the seven states were compromised in a variety of ways, with some breaches more serious than others, from entry into state websites to penetration of actual voter registration databases.”
And the 2018 Midterm Elections Are Around the Corner
With the 2018 midterm election only months away, many are worried about that the 2016 election was just laying the groundwork for 2018 and there will be more attacks this time around.
“We have an extreme sense of urgency on insuring security of the 2018 elections, because you don’t get a chance to do it over,” said Alex Padilla, California’s secretary of state, one of the states the U.S. intelligence community says was compromised in the 2016 election.
However, the federal government led by Trump is proving they aren’t trying hard to stop another attack in the 2018 elections.
At a Senate hearing on Tuesday, the National Security Agency director, Adm. Mike Rogers, acknowledged that the White House has not directed him to try to stop Moscow from meddling in U.S. elections.
“We’re taking steps but we’re probably not doing enough,” Rogers said.
