President Trump has shown little interest in fighting the threat of Russians hacking U.S. elections. He’s shown a lot of interest in fighting voter fraud, something he insists — without evidence — is widespread. Parts of his administration are doing just the opposite. Bob Kolasky, an acting deputy undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), told a group of election officials gathered in Washington, D.C., this week that the threat of Russian hacking in future elections is “a national security issue.” “We have seen no evidence that the Russian government has changed its intent or changed its capability to cause duress to our election system. That may not be the only concern we have in the future,” Kolasky said, adding that another nation-state or bad actor could also attempt to interfere in U.S. voting.
The intelligence community concluded last year that Russian hackers probed election systems in at least 21 states before the 2016 election, although there’s no evidence any vote tallies were affected.
… Jeremy Epstein, a computer security expert, warned that it can take months before an intrusion is detected. Though there is no evidence voting systems were compromised in 2016, some computer experts nevertheless worry that hackers might have already gained access to a system unnoticed, with plans to exploit that vulnerability in future voting.
“These systems are uniformly vulnerable,” Epstein said. “If you think you’re secure, you haven’t looked hard enough.”
Full Article: Trump Official On Russian Hacking: ‘A National Security Issue’ : NPR.