Russian hackers targeted election systems in 21 states in last year’s United States presidential race, a Department of Homeland Security official has told Congress.
But a former Obama official added that a video of US President Donald Trump bragging of sexual conquests distracted attention from Washington’s warnings.
Key points:
- Official won’t identify specific states
- Senators push for more details about the hacking
- Arizona and Illinois last year confirmed they were targeted
Jeanette Manfra, the department’s acting deputy undersecretary of cyber security, would not identify which states had been targeted, citing confidentiality agreements.
She reiterated that there was no evidence that any actual votes were manipulated.
“As of right now, we have evidence that election-related systems in 21 states were targeted,” Ms Manfra told the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Systems were breached in a smaller number of states, she said, but did not give a specific figure.
Jeh Johnson, who led the Homeland Security Department until the end of the Obama administration, added that his department had issued warnings about hacking…
No comments:
Post a Comment