The 2016 US presidential election was overshadowed by multiple stories of online misconduct. While Hillary Clinton was investigated by the FBI over her use of a private email server, confidential Democratic campaign emails were released by Wikileaks. In addition, the Democratic National Committee and multiple consultancy and law firms were targeted in ‘spear phishing’ campaigns. This increasingly popular form of email spamming tricked various political insiders into providing the access necessary for hackers to collect their personal and professional data. Although Clinton was cleared of any wrongdoing two days before voters went to the polls, reports of widespread cybersecurity breaches by Russian hackers continue to emerge.
In recent days it has become apparent that the attacks on the US political system were far more extensive than previously believed. As control over voting systems lies at state and county levels, with no overriding federal control, the investigation into hacking activities has been complex and slow. Yet investigators now believe that 39 out of the 50 states were affected in this election cycle. The nature of the attacks also appears to be more sophisticated than previously feared, with compromises to voter databases and software systems used by polling workers.
While some states have been reluctant to cooperate fully with federal investigators, Illinois has allowed the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to analyse breaches in its networks. Their findings make for chilling reading. In gaining access to the state’s voter database, hackers were able to glean the personal information – including names, dates of birth, and partial Social Security numbers – of 15 million citizens. In addition, the hackers attempted to alter and delete information from the database, although their efforts appear to have failed.
In October 2016, when FBI Director James Comey made his unprecedented intervention into the election campaign over Clinton’s private email server, voters were unaware of another unparalleled action coming from the White House. With growing evidence of interference from Russian hackers, President Barack Obama contacted the Kremlin through back channels to warn of potential retaliation should such activities continue. While President Vladimir Putin has recently acknowledged that a number of email and internet spam attacks may have been carried out by criminals within his country, he has consistently denied that they were authorised by officials.
With the current president set to be beleaguered by Congressional hearings on his relationship with Russia for months to come, it is unclear whether the White House will continue to take such a hard line with their Russian counterparts. Investigators are also perplexed by the hackers’ actions, which seemingly stopped short of any meaningful disruption of the vote. With just three years until the next presidential election, US officials fear that Russian intervention will only increase in scale and complexity.
Whether the outcome of future elections will be affected by Russian hackers remains to be seen. For now, the electorate’s confidence in the integrity of the system certainly seems to have been shaken. Perhaps that was the intention of the hackers all along.
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