Security News > 2020 > October > FBI, CISA Say DDoS Attacks Won't Prevent Voting
DDoS attacks would either slow down election-related public-facing websites or render them inaccessible, thus preventing voters from staying updated with voting information or from accessing voting results.
"The public should be aware that if foreign actors or cyber criminals were able to successfully conduct DDoS attacks against election infrastructure, the underlying data and internal systems would remain uncompromised, and anyone eligible to vote would still be able to cast a ballot," the FBI and CISA note.
The two agencies warn that threat actors might falsely claim that they successfully compromised voting systems through DDoS attacks and that they were able to prevent voters from casting their ballots or that they managed to modify already-cast votes.
"The FBI and CISA have no reporting to suggest a DDoS attack has ever prevented a registered voter from casting a ballot, or compromised the integrity of any ballots cast," the alert reads.
"Election officials have multiple safeguards and plans in place to limit the impact and recover from a DDoS incident with minimal disruption to the voting process," the agencies say.
News URL
Related news
- DDoS Attacks Now Key Weapons in Geopolitical Conflicts, NETSCOUT Warns (source)
- CISA and FBI Warn Fast Flux is Powering Resilient Malware, C2, and Phishing Networks (source)
- CISA Warns of CentreStack's Hard-Coded MachineKey Vulnerability Enabling RCE Attacks (source)
- CISA tags SonicWall VPN flaw as actively exploited in attacks (source)
- Cloudflare mitigates record number of DDoS attacks in 2025 (source)
- DDoS attacks jump 358% compared to last year (source)
- China is using AI to sharpen every link in its attack chain, FBI warns (source)
- CISA tags Broadcom Fabric OS, CommVault flaws as exploited in attacks (source)
- Pro-Russia hacktivists bombard Dutch public orgs with DDoS attacks (source)
- Europol Shuts Down Six DDoS-for-Hire Services Used in Global Attacks (source)