With mounting concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to election interference, the biggest threat facing the 2020 elections may be ransomware attacks, according to Christopher Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
On the 90-day mark to the 2020 U.S. elections, the CISA chief spoke during a Black Hat USA 2020 session about updates to election security efforts that began following the 2016 presidential race. While the intelligence community continues to monitor Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and other countries that may try to target U.S. infrastructure or lead disinformation campaigns, it is clear ransomware attacks remain a top concern for CISA.
“When I look at the remaining time between now and November, I’m thinking about that ransomware actor. What can we do to protect those at-risk systems?” Krebs said. “Last year, we launched the voter registration ransomware initiative and this summer we are rolling out a pilot program across the country to introduce endpoint security detection capabilities in a number of jurisdictions.”
Ransomware attacks on state and municipal governments have increased in recent years, causing massive…
