Text that says "Voter Update" next to the official seal of the SLO County Clerk-Recorder

Federal Agencies Say Cyber Attack Could Hinder Public Access to Election Info, Not Election Itself

Author: Erin Clausen
Date: 8/1/2024 3:22 PM

The FBI and the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency have put out a public service announcement regarding the potential impact of a cyber-attack around the upcoming General Election. In a nutshell: While access to information might be compromised, the security and integrity of election processes would not be impacted.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) together issued an announcement regarding the potential impact of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack as we head toward Election Day on November 5, 2024. Their message was that an attack like this could restrict the flow of public election information but would not impact election processes themselves.

What is a Distributed Denial of Service (DDos) attack?

DDoS attacks occur when malicious cyber actors flood a public-facing, internet-accessible server with requests, rendering the targeted server slow or inaccessible. This temporarily prevents legitimate users from accessing online information or resources, such as web pages and online services, and may disrupt business activities temporarily.

How could DDoS Attacks affect public access to election information?

DDoS attacks targeting election infrastructure could prevent a voter from accessing websites containing information about where and how to vote, online election services like voter registration, or unofficial election results.

Could they interfere with a voter’s ability to cast a ballot?

If foreign actors or cyber criminals conduct DDoS attacks against election infrastructure or other infrastructure supporting election administration, the underlying data and internal systems would remain uncompromised, and anyone eligible to vote would still be able to cast a ballot. The FBI and CISA have no reporting to suggest a DDoS attack has ever prevented an eligible voter from casting a ballot, compromised the integrity of any ballots cast, or disrupted the ability to tabulate votes or transmit election results in a timely manner.

What do the FBI and CISA say a voter should do?

  • Seek out information from official sources such as the County of San Luis Obispo Clerk-Recorder’s Office (www.SloVote.com) or the California Secretary of State (www.sos.ca.gov) regarding polling locations, registering to vote, voting by mail, and final election results.
  • If the official website for your County Election Office is unavailable, contact your state or local election official. In SLO County, the phone number for the Elections Office is (805) 781-5228.
  • Report any suspicious or criminal activity including, DDoS attacks, to your local FBI field office by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), or online at ic3.gov.

The official public service announcement can be viewed online here.