Bad actors have accessed US elections support systems, although there’s no evidence to suggest that election data has been compromised, say FBI and CISA
Threat actors have been chaining vulnerabilities in Windows and Virtual Private Network (VPN) services to target various government agencies, critical infrastructure and election organizations, according to a warning by the United States’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The technique, which involves exploiting several flaws over the course of a single attack to infiltrate an organization’s network, is part of the gangs’ ramped-up efforts ahead of the US presidential election.
“This recent malicious activity has often, but not exclusively, been directed at federal and state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) government networks. Although it does not appear these targets are being selected because of their proximity to elections information, there may be some risk to elections information housed on government networks,” reads the advisory issued by the agencies.
And while CISA did note that some of the attackers’ activities have led to unauthorized access to elections support systems, the agency doesn’t have any evidence to conclude that the integrity of the elections has been jeopardized in any way.
Malicious cyber actors are exploiting legacy vulnerabilities against SLTT, Critical Infrastructure, and Elections Organizations. Read our joint advisory with the @FBI for technical details and recommended actions: https://t.co/FDbCpPdNbV #InfoSec attackers chain windows flaws target government agencies
