Ethical Hacking News
Cybercriminals Pose a Greater Threat to US Election Hacks than Foreign Actors
A recent report from the US Department of Homeland Security reveals that financially motivated cybercriminals pose a far greater threat to disruptive US election hacks than state-backed hackers. This shocking revelation highlights the importance of collaboration between local, state, and federal authorities in preventing breaches and mitigating the fallout of successful attacks.
Financially motivated cybercriminals pose a greater threat to disrupting US election infrastructure than state-backed hackers. Ransomware attackers and other financially motivated cybercriminals are the primary threat, driven by financial gain rather than ideological or political motivations. 95% of "cyber threats to elections" were unsuccessful attempts by unknown actors, according to DHS statistics. Collaboration between local, state, and federal authorities is crucial in preventing breaches and mitigating the fallout of successful attacks.
WIRED has recently uncovered a bombshell report from the US Department of Homeland Security that has left many in the cybersecurity community stunned. The report, which was obtained by the national security transparency nonprofit Property of the People and viewed by WIRED, warns that financially motivated cybercriminals pose a far greater threat to disruptive US election hacks than state-backed hackers.
This shocking revelation is particularly striking given the recent attention focused on foreign actors such as Russia and China in relation to election interference. While it is true that these nations have been active throughout the 2024 United States campaign season, compromising digital accounts associated with political campaigns, spreading disinformation, and probing election systems, the report from the US Department of Homeland Security makes it clear that they are not the primary threat.
Instead, the report points to financially motivated cybercriminals such as ransomware attackers as the greatest risk to disrupting US election infrastructure. These individuals, who are driven by financial gain rather than ideological or political motivations, have been actively targeting US state and local government entity networks that manage or support election processes. In some cases, successful ransomware attacks and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on such infrastructure have delayed election-related operations in the affected state or locality but did not compromise the integrity of voting processes.
According to DHS statistics highlighted in the report, 95 percent of "cyber threats to elections" were unsuccessful attempts by unknown actors. Two percent were unsuccessful attempts by known actors, and only three percent were successful attempts "to gain access or cause disruption." The report emphasizes that threat intelligence sharing and collaboration between local, state, and federal authorities have helped prevent breaches and mitigate the fallout of successful attacks.
It is worth noting that government-backed hackers may stoke geopolitical tension by conducting particularly aggressive digital espionage, but their activity isn't inherently escalatory so long as they are abiding by espionage norms. Criminal hackers, on the other hand, are bound by no such restrictions, though they can call too much attention to themselves if their attacks are too disruptive and risk a law enforcement crackdown.
The report also highlights the importance of collaboration between local, state, and federal authorities in preventing breaches and mitigating the fallout of successful attacks. This includes sharing threat intelligence and working together to identify and address vulnerabilities in election infrastructure.
In light of this new information, it is clear that the threat landscape surrounding US elections is more complex and nuanced than previously thought. While foreign actors such as Russia and China continue to pose a significant risk, financially motivated cybercriminals are now recognized as a far greater threat to disrupting US election hacks.
Related Information:
https://www.wired.com/story/cybercriminals-disruptive-hacking-us-elections-dhs-report/
https://headtopics.com/us/cybercriminals-pose-a-greater-threat-of-disruptive-us-60992616
https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/fbi-and-cisa-release-joint-psa-just-so-you-know-false-claims-hacked-voter-information-likely
Published: Mon Oct 28 10:23:41 2024 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
