CHICAGO () — Federal cybersecurity officials are raising alarms about a potentially wide-ranging hacking effort tied to the Russian government, renewing fears over election security as upcoming races draw closer.
Intelligence sources said members of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s staff recently joined representatives from other governors’ offices for discussions focused on defending against election-related threats, including foreign influence operations and disinformation campaigns.
That meeting took place shortly before federal cybersecurity officials sent a fresh warning to telecommunications firms, energy providers, water utilities, hospitals, and government agencies at the federal, state and local levels. The alert pointed to new attempts by FSB-16, a unit of Russia’s Federal Security Service, to penetrate critical systems in Illinois and elsewhere across the country.
“Desperate entities will take desperate measures,” said Jake Braun, executive director of the University of Chicago Cyber Policy initiative.
Braun said the rapid development of artificial intelligence has sharply expanded both the reach and complexity of cyberattacks.
“AI really puts that on overdrive … to send out hundreds of 1000s, millions, and millions of attacks all at once to millions of potential victims, whether they be small businesses, local governments, whatever,” Braun said. “And so that was possible before, but not with the level of sophistication and the level of reach that it is now.”
Braun, who previously served as a senior counselor to the secretary of Homeland Security, said the latest warning is especially notable given Russia’s breach of the Illinois State Board of Elections in July 2016.
“So yes, absolutely, Russia is desperate right now. Ukraine has them on the ropes, and there’s no telling what they’re going to do in the midterms or any other time,” Braun said.
According to federal indictments against a dozen Russian operatives, cyber spies stole the names, addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers of about half a million Illinois voters in the 2016 breach.
Illinois election officials have maintained that no votes were changed.
Election security efforts in Illinois are monitored through the Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center, or STIC, headquartered in Springfield. Among its responsibilities, the center monitors intelligence streams for evidence of foreign probes, tampering or cyberattacks targeting election systems.
Security experts said the campaign to dampen American confidence is unrelenting.
“They don’t care about our personal politics or anything,” Braun said. “They want to undermine American faith in our institutions and in our country, and the way they will go about doing that is undermining the infrastructure that underpins those institutions.”
Federal officials and cybersecurity experts continue to urge businesses, government agencies and other institutions to take steps to mitigate cyber threats as concerns over foreign interference and critical infrastructure security persist.
