Stories
Trump's Cyber Plan for Mid-Terms: Too Little, Too Late, Say Election Officials
- •The National Security Agency (NSA) released a cybersecurity plan weeks before mid-term elections, but election officials deem it inadequate and belated.
- •States have resorted to private contractors for election security due to a lack of federal government cooperation and CISA's reduced services.
- •President Donald Trump's administration is criticized for gutting CISA, firing a third of its workforce, and cutting $10 million from cybersecurity initiatives.
- •Secretaries of state, including Minnesota's Scott Simon, are spending significant funds on private contractors for security testing.
- •Concerns rise that Trump and allies may use disinformation or attempt to seize equipment/ballots to disrupt results if facing defeat in mid-terms.
Key Questions Answered
State officials flagged that the NSA's cybersecurity plan is both inadequate and belated, arriving at the end of September instead of mid-August. Because of cooperation issues and federal cutbacks, states were forced to turn to private contractors to secure their election infrastructure ahead of the mid-terms.
President Donald Trump gutted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) by firing a third of its workforce and cutting $10 million from two cybersecurity initiatives, including one meant to help local election officials. The administration also proposed an omnibus budget reduction of about $707 million for CISA to focus on federal civilian networks.
Experts and Democrats are concerned that Donald Trump and his allies could launch disinformation campaigns to delegitimise election results or use claims of foreign interference to seize equipment or ballots. Furthermore, questions have been raised about whether immigration officers could appear at polling places, though ICE officials stressed they are not assigned to patrol sites or intimidate voters.
