National: Senator asks DHS for plans to treat election infrastructure as critical | The Hill

A Democratic senator is looking for answers on whether the Trump administration will keep in place the designation of election infrastructure as “critical” and, if so, how the new administration plans to implement it. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) directed a number of questions at Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly in a letter this month in order to better understand the designation, which was made by his predecessor Jeh Johnson just weeks before Barack Obama left the White House. The designation was also made in timing with the release of the intelligence community’s report on Russian election interference, which assessed that Russian intelligence accessed elements of state and local electoral boards. In doing so, the Obama administration opened up election infrastructure—including polling places, vote tabulations locations, and technology such as voting machines and registration databases-–to federal protections upon request from state and local governments.

Netherlands: Mass Twitter Hack as Dutch Election Begins | Handelsblatt

Twitter was hacked on a large scale on Wednesday and swastikas and messages supporting Turkish leaders were posted on accounts around the world. The thousands of accounts affected spanned institutions such as the United Kingdom’s health department and Amnesty International, to media including the BBC in the United States and Forbes to celebrities such as singer Justin Bieber and German soccer club Borussia Dortmund.

National: Trump in Graham’s cross hairs as Russia probe kicks off | Politico

Lindsey Graham lacks the resources and access that the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have to investigate Russia’s meddling in the presidential election. But his Senate Judiciary subcommittee has something the intelligence panels don’t: a Republican chairman viewed not as a Donald Trump ally but as a fierce critic, who has no qualms with bucking party leaders to unravel the mystery of Russia’s interference in the election. Graham and his Democratic partner, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, will seize the spotlight Wednesday during a public hearing on Russia’s election interference, to be held by Graham’s Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, which has jurisdiction over the FBI.

National: Senator Whitehouse: Comey to say whether FBI probing Russia, Trump campaign | CNN

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said Tuesday that FBI Director James Comey promised to tell him Wednesday whether the FBI is investigating ties between Russia and the campaign of President Donald Trump. The Rhode Island Democrat said that Comey made the promise in a March 2 meeting with him and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina. According to Whitehouse, Comey assured them he would confirm if an investigation exists “and the scope of their Russia/Trump investigation because he had not been able to at that point say that there was one.”

Editorials: ‘Never Trump’ Republicans join call for select committee to investigate Russia and Trump | Josh Rogin/The Washington Post

Democrats in Congress have long argued that the ongoing intelligence committee investigations into Russia’s interference in the presidential election and the Trump campaign’s ties to the Kremlin are unlikely to get to the bottom of the issue. Now a group of “Never Trump” Republicans are planning to pressure GOP leaders to establish a bipartisan select committee to take over the inquiries and settle the matter once and for all. Stand Up Republic, a nonprofit organization led by former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin and his running mate, Mindy Finn, is launching a public campaign aimed at building support among Republicans for consolidating the various congressional Russia-related investigations into one empowered and fully funded select committee. The organization’s ad, which goes live Tuesday with a six-figure television ad buy, makes the case that the Russia issue is too important not to investigate fully.

Georgia: Experts push paper ballot trail after alleged breach of Georgia data | Atlanta Journal Constitution

A group of 20 computer scientists and security experts called on Georgia to overhaul its elections system and begin using a system with a paper audit trail, saying it would assure accuracy and public confidence following an alleged breach of confidential data that could affect millions of Georgia voter records. In a letter sent Tuesday to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, the group acknowledged that the breach is now under federal investigation and that much is still unknown. But, it said, potential findings “could have dire security consequences for the integrity of the technology and all elections carried out in Georgia” depending on their severity. “While we understand that this investigation is ongoing and that it will take time for the full picture to emerge, we request that you be as forthcoming and transparent as possible regarding critical information about the breach and the investigation, as such leadership not only will be respected in Georgia but also emulated in other states where such a breach could occur,” the group said. Most members of the group are involved with the voting-accuracy organization Verified Voting.

France: Government withdraws electronic vote over hacking fears | IT PRO

The French government has advised citizens living abroad that they won’t be able to vote electronically in the upcoming parliamentary elections due to fears of hacking. Over the course of the past week, French voters living abroad have been receiving emails from the French Foreign Ministry stating: “Due to the very high risk of cyber-attacks, the French authorities have decided, on the advice of the National Agency for Information Security, not to allow electronic voting for the parliamentary elections of June 2017.” No further information has been provided as to whether a specific risk has been identified and, IT Pro understands that even though the alert first went out on 6 March, not all those affected have been contacted so far. There are 1,611,054 French nationals living abroad, according to France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development. … The upcoming French presidential elections, which begin on 23 April, aren’t affected, however, as electronic voting isn’t an option.

National: Lawmakers eye cyber help for states | The Hill

Efforts are growing in Congress to give states more federal help on cybersecurity, amid heightened fears about the vulnerability of state data systems. A flurry of bills introduced this month would compel the federal government to share resources and assistance with state and local governments to fix cyber vulnerabilities and prepare for hacks. At least one of the bills deals specifically with securing voting systems in the wake of Russia’s cyberattacks on political organizations during the 2016 campaign. That bill, introduced by Democratic Reps. Gerry Connolly (Va.) and Jim Langevin (R.I.), would offer grants to encourage states to use newer and more secure voting systems. It would also give grants to states for boosting access to the polls. “In 43 of the 50 states, we’re dealing with outdated voting equipment more than a decade old,” Connolly told The Hill. “We had Russian hacking, and we want to make sure people can feel secure about voting.”

Georgia: Democratic leader demands details on voter data breach | Atlanta Journal Constitution

The chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia on Monday demanded that Secretary of State Brian Kemp accept help from the Department of Homeland Security after an alleged breach of confidential data that could affect millions of Georgia voter records. DuBose Porter also criticized Kemp for disclosing few details about the nature and origin of the attack, and he raised concerns that it could affect the April 18 special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Tom Price. “The security of — and confidence in — our voting system is the bedrock of American democracy,” Porter wrote. “It is your obligation to provide all Georgians with assurance that our voting system is sound and secure.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched an inquiry into the suspected cyberattack this month at the request of state officials after university staff told them records kept by the Center for Election Systems at Kennesaw State University may have been compromised.

National: WikiLeaks aids doubters of Russian election hacking | The Hill

WikiLeaks is helping to cast doubt on the conclusion of intelligence agencies that the Russian government was behind the hack of the Democratic National Committee, in what appears to be the latest disinformation campaign orchestrated by Moscow. The site leaked a trove of purported CIA hacking tools this week and zeroed in on what it called the agency’s effort to “misdirect attribution” of cyber attacks to other nations, including Russia. Fake accounts on Twitter seized on the claim to dispute that Russia sought to interfere in the U.S. election last year, noted Ryan Kalember, senior vice president for cybersecurity strategy at Proofpoint. He described the WikiLeaks release as playing into a larger “disinformation campaign” aimed at undermining the intelligence community’s attribution of cyber attacks, particularly those to Russia.

National: Credibility a question for GOP-led probe of Russia, election | Associated Press

As congressional investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election ramp up, so is the political division, raising questions about whether lawmakers’ work will be viewed as credible. The House this week scheduled its first public hearing, which some swiftly dismissed as political theater. Even as lawmakers began to review classified information at CIA’s headquarters, Democrats continued to call for an independent panel and special prosecutor. The dynamic underscored the escalating concerns about whether the Republican-led investigations will have the funding, focus and, perhaps most importantly, bipartisan buy-in to produce findings that are broadly accepted and definitive.

National: FBI examining Alfa Bank pinging Trump Organization servers during election | Business Insider

The FBI is examining why a computer server for a Russian bank led by oligarchs with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin had a disproportionate interest in reaching a server used by the Trump Organization during the US presidential campaign. CNN reported on Thursday that last summer a computer server owned by the Russia-based Alfa Bank “repeatedly looked up the contact information for a computer server being used by the Trump Organization — far more than other companies did, representing 80% of all lookups to the Trump server.” Slate and The New York Times first reported on the unusual server activity, which was akin to looking up someone’s phone number thousands of times. The Times reported on October 31 that the FBI examined the server activity and “ultimately concluded that there could be an innocuous explanation, like a marketing email or spam, for the computer contacts.”

National: Lawmakers Look to Curb Foreign Influence in State Elections | Stateline

Amid concerns that Russia helped sway the 2016 presidential election, several states are considering legislation that would bar companies with significant foreign ties from contributing money in state campaigns. A long-standing federal statute bars noncitizens and foreign companies from donating directly to candidates or political parties at the federal, state and local levels. Another law prohibits businesses from directly donating to federal-level candidates or political parties. But the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case cleared the way for corporations and unions to pay for political ads made independently of candidates’ campaigns. The high court ruled that corporations and unions are associations of U.S. citizens with a First Amendment right to political expression.

United Kingdom: Russia cyber attackers may target UK elections, warn spies | Business Standard

Spies at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) have called an emergency summit with Britains political parties after warning them that the next general election is vulnerable to cyber attacks by the Russians. Ciaran Martin, chief executive of GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), has written to leaders of all the main political parties offering expert help to strengthen network security, reported the Sunday Times. In his letter, Martin said: “You will be aware of the coverage of evnts in the United States, Germany and elsewhere reminding us of the potential for hostile action against the UK political system.” He called a “technical seminar” on cyber-security for politicians.

National: Democrats seek special prosecutor in Russia election meddling | Associated Press

Democrats pushed Tuesday for a special prosecutor to examine the Trump administration’s potential ties to Russia, using a confirmation hearing to urge the No. 2 pick at the Justice Department to consider handing over any such investigation to an independent overseer. “We need steel spines, not weak knees when it comes to political independence in the Department of Justice,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat. The remarks came during a hearing for Rod Rosenstein, a longtime federal prosecutor tapped for deputy attorney general, which instead became a referendum on Russian meddling in the presidential election.

Georgia: FBI investigating alleged breach in Georgia at KSU’s elections center | Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating an alleged data breach in Georgia at the Center for Election Systems at Kennesaw State University, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned. The situation is still developing, although the Secretary of State’s Office said Friday that the investigation is not related to its own network and is not a breach of its database containing the personal information on Georgia’s 6.6 million registered voters. The office referred all other questions to both university and federal officials.

Europe: Western Democracies Facing Cyberattack Threats Return to Election Basics | Bloomberg

Elections in western democracies are going back to pad and paper, abandoning the conveniences of modern technology as they hope to reduce the risk of cyberattacks by outside actors such as Russian-backed hackers. In a year where the European Union possibly hangs in the balance there are three national elections in three EU countries. The Netherlands and France have concluded that the easiest and most reliable solution is to go back to the basics. French citizens living overseas will have to travel back to France to cast a ballot June’s parliamentary election as a precaution against an “extremely high-level threat of cyber attacks,” according to the government ministry that oversees voting, Bloomberg News reported. French voters will also be required to cast a paper ballot for the April and May presidential election.

National: FBI investigation continues into ‘odd’ computer link between Russian bank and Trump Organization | CNN

Federal investigators and computer scientists continue to examine whether there was a computer server connection between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank, sources close to the investigation tell CNN. Questions about the possible connection were widely dismissed four months ago. But the FBI’s investigation remains open, the sources said, and is in the hands of the FBI’s counterintelligence team — the same one looking into Russia’s suspected interference in the 2016 election. One U.S. official said investigators find the server relationship “odd” and are not ignoring it. But the official said there is still more work for the FBI to do. Investigators have not yet determined whether a connection would be significant.

National: Intel agencies, House panel near agreement on Russia election probe | McClatchy

The House Intelligence Committee is nearing an agreement with the nation’s intelligence agencies for full access to the information that underlay the recent classified report on Russian efforts to interfere in last year’s presidential election. Among the information the committee hopes to gain access to is any evidence that implicates Russian President Vladimir Putin in ordering the hacks of Democratic National Committee computers and the email account of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman. In a report delivered Jan. 6 to then-President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump, the FBI, CIA and the National Security Agency said Putin had personally ordered the hacks as part of an effort to damage Clinton’s presidential campaign. During the course of the campaign, the agencies concluded, Putin’s emphasis changed to helping Trump win election.

National: Classified documents show troubling efforts by Russia to influence election, Sen. King says | Portland Press Herald

Maine’s U.S. Sen. Angus King expressed heightened concerns Thursday about Russian attempts to infiltrate state election systems after he reviewed a trove of classified documents on Moscow’s campaign to influence the 2016 presidential race. King said he spent “a couple of hours” Wednesday reviewing the classified documents at CIA headquarters as part of a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 elections. While King said he could not provide any specifics, he said the documents provided “substantial backup” to the declassified Jan. 6 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that concluded Russian government officials “ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election.”

Netherlands: Russian hackers use Dutch polls as practice | Deutsche Welle

It shouldn’t really come as a surprise, but the audacity remains breathtaking: In the past six months, foreign countries, in particular Russia, have tried hacking email accounts of Dutch government employees in at least 100 cases. That figure was recently revealed by Rob Bertholee, head of the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD). He said the hackers had attempted to gather sensitive information about government positions. One of their targets was the Ministry of General Affairs, where Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s office is also located. Back in December, Rutte had already said his government was aware of potential foreign interference in next Wednesday’s election. “It would be naïve to think it doesn’t happen here,” the Director Cyber Security at Northwave and former AIVD employee, Pim Takkenberg, told DW. “Russia has the right specialists, and it’s quite easy to do.”

Russia: Putin Aims to Undermine Western Democracies With Election Meddling, Experts Say | VoA News

Russian President Vladimir Putin is single-handedly trying to undermine democracy in the United States and Europe and rupture their decades-old NATO alliance by meddling in their elections, foreign affairs analysts and Estonia’s former president told a congressional hearing Thursday in Washington. One of the experts, Peter Doran, executive vice president of the Center for European Policy Analysis, a group promoting closer ties between central and eastern European countries and the United States, said U.S. lawmakers “should have no doubt, Russia is a rival to the United States.” Doran declared, “The Russian government is sharpening its use of state-sponsored propaganda against Western democracies. This puts democratic states and NATO at risk. The strategic aims of the Russian government are fundamentally incompatible with American interests in Europe.”

Europe: Fears of election hacking spread in Europe | PCWorld

France has followed the Netherlands in placing its faith in paper-based voting systems ahead of key elections later this year, following allegations that Russian hackers influenced last year’s U.S. presidential election. The French government will not allow internet voting in legislative elections to be held in June because of the “extremely elevated threat of cyberattacks.” The move follows a recommendation from the French Network and Information Security Agency (ANSSI), it said Monday. The move will only affect 11 of the 577 electoral districts voting, those representing French citizens living outside their home country. These expatriates had previously been allowed to vote over the internet in some elections because the alternative was to require some of them to travel vast distances to the nearest embassy or consulate with a ballot box. It also only applies to the legislative elections to be held in June: The two rounds of presidential elections to be held in April and May were always expected to use paper ballots.

National: House Intelligence Committee sets date for first Russia hearing | The Hill

The House Intelligence Committee will hold its first public hearing in its contentious investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election on March 20, Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) announced Tuesday. The hearing is scheduled for the same day that Senate is set to begin its own high-stakes hearing to weigh the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacant slot on the Supreme Court. A preliminary witness list, which Nunes cautioned may be modified or expanded as necessary, includes a who’s-who of current and former senior intelligence officials linked to the probe. Invited to testify are: FBI Director James Comey, National Security Agency head Adm. Mike Rogers, former CIA director John Brennan, former national intelligence director James Clapper, former acting attorney general Sally Yates and two senior officials from the cybersecurity firm that first put the finger on the Russians for the breach of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Russia: Cyber attacks and election interference by Russia are acts of aggression says Nato chief | International Business Times

Nato’s principle of collective defence, should be widened to include fake news and cyber hacking, the alliance’s top British officer has said, suggesting that recent moves by Russia be considered acts of aggression. In the wake of Russia’s alleged interference in the US election, European spy agencies fear that Moscow is also involved in meddling in ballots in Germany, France and the Netherlands amid concern that it seeks to promote populist parties. General Sir Adrian Bradshaw said that disinformation and interference could come under the remit of Article 5 of Nato’s treaty. The 1949 founding article specifies defence against an armed attack, but its critics argue that it does not take into account the nature of hybrid 21st century warfare.

Russia: US bill to target Russia’s possible influence in European elections | The Guardian

A bipartisan resolution in the House of Representatives targeting Russia for its role in election hacking will be announced on Wednesday. The bill, introduced by Republican congressman Peter Roskam of Illinois and Democrat congressman David Cicilline of Rhode Island, will declare that it is US policy “to sanction entities and individuals within Russia or associated with the Russian Government engaged in hacking, cyber-attacks, and propaganda campaigns with the intention of interfering in democratic elections”. The legislation comes after bipartisan concern about the Russian role in influencing the 2016 election through hacking, including of the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. But the proposed legislation is forward-looking and is focused on potential Russian interference in European elections in 2017 including the upcoming presidential election in France, rather than the 2016 cyberattacks, which are currently being investigated by multiple congressional committees.

Georgia: FBI still looking into alleged breach of voting records at KSU | Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Federal officials are continuing their investigation into an alleged data breach that could affect millions of Georgia voter records. The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched the inquiry Friday at the request of state officials, who hours earlier received notice that records kept by the Center for Election Systems at Kennesaw State University may have been compromised. “We’ll let the law enforcement do their job and get a report back I’m sure, hopefully very soon,” Gov. Nathan Deal said. He was asked if the state was considering new measures to secure confidential voter data. “I don’t know of anything else we can do. All that we can normally expect to do has been done,” he said. “We just need to find out how this happened and who it was.”

Netherlands: Dutch Abandon Electronic Vote Counting Amid Hacking Fears | Newsweek

Authorities in the Netherlands are to abandon electronic vote counting in favor of old fashioned methods following reports of foreign interference in other countries’ elections. The country’s general election on March 15 will instead be all-paper and all-manual, Politico reported. Electronic voting was banned in the country in 2007, but software has since been used to count votes electronically. “I don’t want a shadow of doubt over the result in a political climate like the one we know today,” Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk said. “I can imagine some party or professor somewhere will say there is a remaining risk that it was hacked… and that would keep haunting the election outcome.”

Georgia: As many as 7.5 million voter records involved in data breach | Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Millions of Georgia voters may have had their personal information compromised for the second time in as many years, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened an investigation Friday at Kennesaw State University’s Center for Election Systems involving an alleged data breach. As many as 7.5 million voter records may be involved, according to a top state official briefed on the information but not authorized to speak on the record. Neither federal officials nor university officials would confirm the scope of the investigation or how many records had potentially been accessed. State officials found out about the breach Thursday evening, after being notified by the university. The governor’s office said it asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to contact the FBI after learning about the scope of the problem. “After learning of this incident at Kennesaw State University, we reached out to law enforcement,” Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp said. “This matter is deeply concerning, but I am confident the FBI working with KSU will track down the perpetrator.”

France: Moscow Behind High-Level Attacks, Emmanuel Macrons Aide Claims | International Business Times

After allegedly targeting the U.S. election, Russia may hack into the French elections with continued “high-level attacks” and its state-sponsored media spreading fake news, presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron’s digital campaign manager told Sky News on Sunday. French voters conduct the first round of balloting for president April 23, followed by a May 7 runoff between the top two candidates. “We are accusing Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik News (of being) the first source of false information shared about our candidate and all the other symbiotic ways of working with all these fascist organizations or extreme right news organizations,” Mounir Mahjoubi said. “At the same time, during the same period, with the same rhythm, we are the victim, the target of hackers on our servers. … We have been the targets of multiple attempts of hacking but we succeeded to stop all of them.”