Russians tried to hack election systems of 21 states in 2016, Wisconsin officials say – By Patrick Marley and Jason Stein (Gannett) / Sept 22 2017
MADISON, Wis. – Russians attempted to hack elections systems in Wisconsin and 20 other states in the run-up to last year’s presidential election, Wisconsin officials said Friday.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security notified states of the attempted breaches on Friday, said Michael Haas, director of the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The attempt in Wisconsin was unsuccessful, he said.
According to the Associated Press, Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia and Washington were also among the 21 states targeted.
Wisconsin’s voter registration system was targeted, as were election systems in other states that have a presence on the internet, Haas said. Haas said he did not know which states other than Wisconsin were part of the attempt by what Homeland Security officials told him were “Russian government cyber actors.”
The disclosure came a day after Gov. Scott Walker used his veto powers to cut six jobs from the state Elections Commission. The GOP governor’s spokesman did not immediately respond to questions about those job cuts or what he has been told about the hacking attempt.
State officials are seeking more information about the incident and why they were not notified sooner, Haas said.
“This scanning had no impact on Wisconsin’s systems or the election,” Haas said in a statement. “Internet security provided by the state successfully protected our systems. Homeland Security specifically confirmed there was no breach or compromise of our data.”
PB/TK – Why does our government keep defying POTUS Donnie’s statements about Russian hacks being fake. Where are they getting this information and informing 21 States there were attempts
