Russians have penetrated some Florida voter registration systems, Sen. Bill Nelson says

[dherd]

THEY PENETRATED 41 OF 50 STATES ACCORDING CONGRESSMAN ON INTEL COMMITTEE
“We were requested by the chairman and vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee to let the supervisors of election in Florida know that the Russians are in their records,” Nelson told the Times on Wednesday. He noted he is a member of the Armed Services subcommittee on cybersecurity.

Russian operatives have “penetrated” some of Florida’s voter registration systems ahead of the 2018 midterms, Sen. Bill Nelson said Wednesday, adding new urgency to concerns about hacking.

“They have already penetrated certain counties in the state and they now have free rein to move about,” Nelson told the Tampa Bay Times before a campaign event in Tampa. He said something similar a day earlier in Tallahassee but declined to elaborate.

“That’s classified,” the Democrat said Tuesday.

Nelson and Florida’s other senator, Republican Marco Rubio, wrote a July 2 letter to the 67 county election supervisors about potential threats. But that letter lacked the specificity Nelson has laid out

“County election boards should not be expected to stand alone against a hostile foreign government,” the lawmakers wrote in recommending “a wide range of services” from the Department of Homeland Security.

“We were requested by the chairman and vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee to let the supervisors of election in Florida know that the Russians are in their records,” Nelson told the Times on Wednesday. He noted he is a member of the Armed Services subcommittee on cybersecurity.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/article216326550.html

AND STILL AFTER KNOWING ALL THIS TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS TAKE MONEY AWAY
FROM ELECTION SECURITY AND REFUSE TO DO ANYTHING TO PROTECT THE U.S.

 

[i am herdman]

You were penetrated

 

[WV-FAN]

You were penetrated

 

[dherd]

Here is the letter from Rubio and Nelson:

Thank you for all your efforts to prepare your county for Florida's upcoming primary and general elections. This year is demanding greater awareness of cyber threats, technical expertise, and cooperation among all levels of government than perhaps any other year.

Russian government actors targeted our election infrastructure during the 2016 elections. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence recently released a summary of its findings regarding the scanning and penetration of state systems in 2016, along with recommendations for addressing vulnerabilities. Those findings included that Russia was preparing to undermine confidence in our voting process and that, in a small number of cases, cyber actors affiliated with the Russian Government accessed voter registration databases. The Committee further reported that, because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) depends on states and localities self-reporting suspicious activity, and that activity is often difficult to find, "it is possible that additional activity occurred and has not yet been uncovered."

County election boards should not be expected to stand alone against a hostile foreign government. The Committee recommended—and DHS now offers—a wide range of services to state and local officials that will support your efforts to make your systems secure. DHS will follow your lead and meet your needs with a tailored set of options. We encourage you in the strongest terms to take advantage of those resources, and to let us know about your experience with DHS and FBI.

Elections run by local officials are the bedrock of our democracy. Our decentralized system is a strength, but it also means the responsibility resides with each of us to be sure our locality is secure. We look forward to working with you, DHS, and FBI to ensure successful and secure elections this year.



Donald J. Trump
✔ @realDonaldTrump
Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election! Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t Shady James Comey and the now disgraced FBI agents take and closely examine it? Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption!

7:25 AM - Jun 28, 2018

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[dherd]

THE WEEK BEFORE THE ELECTION:
In or around November 2016 and prior to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, KOVALEV and his co-conspirators used an email account designed to look like a Vendor 1 email address to send over 100 spearphishing emails to organizations and personnel involved in administering elections in numerous Florida counties. The spearphishing emails contained malware that the Conspirators embedded into Word documents bearing Vendor 1’s logo.

68. Defendant ANATOLIY SERGEYEVICH KOVALEV (Ковалев Анатолий Сергеевич) was an officer in the Russian military assigned to Unit 74455 who worked in the GRU’s 22 Kirova Street building (the Tower). 69. Defendants OSADCHUK and KOVALEV were GRU officers who knowingly and intentionally conspired with each other and with persons, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to hack into the computers of U.S. persons and entities responsible for the administration of 2016 U.S. elections, such as state boards of elections, secretaries of state, and U.S. companies that supplied software and other technology related to the administration of U.S. elections.

https://www.justice.gov/file/1080281/download