The Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity arm and the FBI said they’ve seen no cyberattacks on voter registration databases this year, after news reports about Michigan voter data appearing on a Russian hacking forum, Politico reports. The agencies said Tuesday they’d not seen attacks “on any systems involving voting … Information on U.S. elections is going to grab headlines, particularly if it as cast as foreign interference. Early, unverified claims should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism.”
Journalist Julia Ioffe tweeted that Russian news media had discovered the data about 7.6 million Michigan voters on the hacker platform, along with voter information from swing states like Florida and North Carolina. The tweet generated 11,000 retweets and 11,000 likes as of Tuesday afternoon. The Michigan Department of State said, “Public voter information in Michigan and elsewhere is available to anyone through a FOIA request. Our system has not been hacked.” Ioffe subsequently said, “it’s just unclear what these hackers are using [the data] for.” Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams told the House Homeland Security Committee last week that hackers were “rattling our doorknobs” but there haven’t been any breaches.