Defense
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- Russia-linked hackers had access to "alter or delete voter registration data" in a small number of states before the 2016 election, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
- The committee released the unclassified version of its investigation into Russian cyber meddling on US voting systems.
- Russian hackers scanned voter databases for vulnerabilities, and managed to successfully infiltrate the voter registration database in several states.
- The Department of Homeland Security has previously said that 21 states were targeted by Russian actors.
Russia-linked hackers had access to "alter or delete voter registration data" in a small number of states before the 2016 election, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The 15-member committee on Tuesday released the unclassified version of its investigation into Russian cyber meddling on US voting systems ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
The Senate findings conclude that cyber actors with ties to the Russian government "conducted an unprecedented,
coordinated cyber campaign against state election infrastructure," which it says was part of a larger campaign to undermine confidence in the US voting system.
The report details how Russian hackers scanned voter databases for vulnerabilities and managed to successfully infiltrate the voter registration database in several states. The actors then had access to "alter or delete voter registration data," although the investigation found no evidence that vote tallies were manipulated or that voter registration data was scraped.
According to the report, 21 states were possibly targeted in the hack, and other states reported suspicious or malicious behavior around the same time.
The Senate's findings were based on information provided by each state, and it is possible more states were attacked but the incidents went undetected.
In September, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed 21 states were targeted by Russian actors.
According to the Washington Post, these states included key swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The Post added that Illinois had its voter systems breached allowing hackers access to voter information including names, dates of birth, genders, driver's licenses, and partial Social Security numbers for 15 million people.
The Senate's findings are part of the committee's independent investigation into Russian influence during the 2016 election.
The information could also be used to strengthen Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.