Security News > 2021 > March > US Office of National Intelligence says Russia, Iran tried to mess with 2020 elections, China sat it out

The USA's Office of National Intelligence today released its previously classified assessment of "Foreign Threats to the 2020 US Federal Elections" and found "Some successful compromises of state and local government networks prior to Election Day-as well as a higher volume of unsuccessful attempts".

It's described as the intelligence community's collective assessment of attempts to disrupt the 2020 election and to contain "Analytic judgments identical to those in the classified version" but without "Full supporting information" or information on "Specific intelligence reports, sources , or methods."

The document offers five key judgements, the first being that no foreign actor "Attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 US elections, including voter registration , casting ballots, vote tabulation , or reporting results."

The document continues: "A key element of Moscow's strategy this election cycle was its use of proxies linked to Russian intelligence to push influence narratives- including misleading or unsubstantiated allegations against President Biden - to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration."

The document details that Russian operatives "Attempted to hack organizations primarily affiliated with the Democratic Party" and "Unsuccessfully targeted US political actors in 2019 and 2020," but as part of a "Larger intelligence-gathering campaign" rather than an attempt to compromise election systems.

Overall, the report seems quite pleased with the state of election security in the USA ahead of the 2020 elections.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/03/17/2020_us_election_security_report/