Russian Election Threat Potent, But Interference So Far Slim

Russian interference has been minimal so far in the most tempestuous U.S. presidential election in decades. But that doesn’t mean the Kremlin can’t inflict serious damage. The vulnerability of state and local government networks is a big worry.

One troubling wildcard is the potential for the kind of ransomware attacks now affecting U.S. hospitals. Russian-speaking cybercriminals are demanding ransoms to unscramble data they’ve locked up. It’s uncertain whether they are affiliated with the Kremlin or if the attacks are timed to coincide with the election.

U.S. national security officials have repeatedly expressed confidence in the integrity of the election. And they report little actual election meddling of consequence from Moscow outside of disinformation operations. There have been phishing attempts aimed at breaking into the networks of political campaigns, operatives and think tanks, but no indication that valuable political information was stolen. That’s in contrast to the 2016 Russian hack-and-leak operation that U.S. officials say was aimed at boosting Donald Trump’s campaign.

Read more at NEWSMAX.

{Matzav.com}