In response to the established and verified ongoing actions by foreign entities, specifically the Russian government, to hack into individual State’s voting systems, the head of the FBI, James Comey, has issued a warning to each state to secure their voting systems against cybercrime hacks, invasions, and manipulations. This heightened concern is being shared by the head of the CIA, James Brennan, and the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson.
At James Comey’s appearance at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, he testified :
"There have been a variety of scanning activities which is a preamble for potential intrusion activities as well as some attempted intrusions at voter database registrations beyond those we knew about in July and August. We are urging the states just to make sure that their deadbolts are thrown and their locks are on and to get the best information they can from DHS just to make sure their systems are secure," he said.
The FBI director is telling states to make sure they are on top of their voter registration systems, saying would-be hackers are "poking around."
In working on this, I have come across reports that the FBI has contacted individually, states’ election officials to warn them of this problem.
In a CNN interview, CIA Director John Brennan reiterated the hacking behavior and expressed his concern about hacking disruption of Voting systems and the election process.
Also, on Aug. 3, the Dept. of Homeland Security chief, Jeh Johnson publically raised this issue by stating that he is considering adding America’s Electronic Voting Systems to the list of 16 systems and services which are now classified and deemed to be “Critical Infrastructure”. Secretary Johnson’s concern is that there could be a possible cyberattack on America’s E-Voting systems in the November election.
See my story : www.dailykos.com/...
Source: www.rawstory.com/...
And in support of this immediate concern of this election security issue, and Jeh Johnson’s desire that the nation’s voting systems be classified as “Critical Infrastructure”, Rep. Hank Johnson Ga04 and Rep. Mike Honda Ca17, have introduced 2 bills which are extremely crucial to protecting the security of America’s voting systems. They are: "Election Infrastructure and Security Promotion Act of 2016" (H.R. 6073) and The Election Integrity Act of 2016 (H.R. 6072).
PLEASE see Rep. Johnson’s article on this at : www.dailykos.com/...
All of America’s top states’ voting officials have been officially warned and briefed by all three of the heads of this country’s domestic and foreign security and intelligence agencies of the ongoing and immediate threat to America’s voting systems and the security of the upcoming presidential election.
As per a report issued by a U.S. security official involved in the investigation, the hacks are being attributed to “Lucifer 2.0” said to be a cover name for a Russian government hacking operation.
All this in mind, there is a candidate running for President, one who has engaged in, as his standard business foundation, unscrupulous, unethical, ruthless, and illegal behavior, totally devoid of any and all respect for any legal restraints, and is a person to whom the truth is whatever comes out of his mouth. This person, Donald Trump, has deep and complex business ties to Russia, a deep admiration for Putin, has top aides in his team who have deep business dealings with Russia, and he, himself has publically called on Putin to hack into his American political adversaries electronic files.
Trump has made, as an integral part of his campaign platform, the constant call that the election is rigged, cannot be trusted, the outcome cannot be accepted and that he may not accept the final results. He has also issued calls to his militia minded followers to engage in vigilante actions at the voting polls on election day and he has made not so subtle calls for violence against his opponent.
So now against all of the above, which should be quite alarming to every American citizen who believes in Democracy, we have John Husted, Ohio’s Secretary of State. To those of you not somewhat obsessed, as I am, with election dynamics, the Secretary of State, of each state, is the single most important person in each state who controls the election process. Ohio holds a very special place in the history of corrupt and manipulated elections in America, since 2000. Ohio’s elections have not even a shred of evidence of being honest and accurate and untampered with. On top of that, Husted works hand in hand with Kansas’ SoS, Kris Kobach in developing a system of intensive and widespread voter suppression. The very last thing John Husted wants is ANY outside, especially Federal Government, involvement in Ohio’s election behavior.
All this being said, hard evidence of Russian hacking into America’s election systems and the heads of the CIA, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security ALL publically warning American election officials of the ongoing threat to the presidential election, what does John Husted do?
Source: www.dispatch.com/...
“Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted doesn’t want the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s help in securing the state’s voting setup.
Such a move would be tantamount to handing over control of Ohio’s election to Washington, Husted reasons.
“The federal government has a lot of mission creep when it comes to elections in the country,” Husted said Thursday in a conference call with reporters.
And, in response to Jeh Johnson’s request to add Voting systems to America’s list of Critical Infrastructure and Reps Johnson’s and Honda’s voting system security bill, Husted had this to say:
“The Republican called on Congress to establish a law prohibiting the Homeland Security Department from defining election equipment as “critical infrastructure” that theoretically could be taken over by the federal government in a national emergency. “This would be an unprecedented overstep by the federal government into the states’ constitutional duty to administer elections,” Husted wrote in a letter to congressional leaders and the Ohio delegation. “Instead of building voter confidence, I can think of few actions that would undermine confidence in elections more than a federal intervention of this magnitude.”
I am not suggesting that Secretary Johnson or DHS has anything other than honorable intentions and a sincere desire to ensure our nation’s elections are secure,” Husted wrote. “But one day, this federal power could be used for far less honorable purposes or without authorization from state elections officials.”
The above quotes are also written in a letter which Husted sent to Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell to protest and undermine the efforts by Jeh Johnson and the legislation by Reps Johnson and Honda. The letter itself is an insulting, despicable, and disgusting attack on the attempt to enact any sort of election integrity and oversight on Ohio’s voting system and practices. The letter should really be read by every American citizen. Here is another excerpt :
“Under the U.S. Constitution the right and responsibility to administer elections is reserved to the States. Any attempt to usurp these duties in the name of security is a step too far. “
To view the letter see: www.dispatch.com/...
As if the above is not disgusting and insulting enough, in a Sept. 26, 2016 report, local Ohio based ABC News issued this report on Husted and the security of Ohio’s voting system:
Note: I wonder why they did not contact Bob Fratakis for this story, just sayin”
“We have let them know what we’re doing in preparation,” Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said. “We’ve taken their advice. We’ve consulted cyber security experts to make sure that we’re ready.”
Husted said the Ohio National Guard Cyber Unit is trying to hack Ohio’s voter registration system right now to find any flaws. Then, use the vulnerabilities found to make any fixes needed leading up to Election Day.
…“I think they just want attention,” Husted said. “They want to be disruptive. Terrorism takes many forms.”
In Ohio, there’s a duplicate system. Changes at the state and local level would have to be made for your registration information to be altered. Husted said all changes have to be authorized so the chances of a disruption is relatively low. He believes all the attempted hacks are an attack on our democracy.
“They would like to undermine that and we’re just not going to let them,” Husted said.”
The fucking National Guard to protect Ohio’s voting system? Really? REALLY? You have to be f’n joking!!!
So, in passing, Ohio, either you are righteously fucked, as in every election since 2000, or everything is all protected by the National Guard.
Now, if only every Government entity and financial institution, and Target and Sony, and every other entity which has been hacked, had the foresight and technological knowhow to use the Ohio National Guard to protect their computer systems, they never would have been hacked.
Here is some additional info which I came across regarding the Russian hacks which I found interesting:
It is an article in Wired Magazine, dated Sept 29, by Andy Greenberg, on the evidence uncovered so far in the hacks.
It is a very interesting article, so, if you have an interest in this, it is a good read :
“Hack Brief: As FBI Warns Election Sites Got Hacked, All Eyes Are on Russia”
GRRRRR!!!!!!!!