Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, speaking at a Council on Foreign Relations event Friday, expressed complete confidence in voting system security for the midterm elections but said she has concerns a foreign adversary may try to discredit election results after the fact.
The 2018 cycle is "going to be the most secure election we've ever had," DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said today, just days before the midterms, but she is worried about a "dynamic threat" that could include foreign attempts to portray the results as invalid afterward.
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"What we've seen is continued attempts to scan," she said ... comparing that activity to a robber casing a target by peering through windows. "In some very limited cases, we have seen access, but they've been quickly prevented or mitigated. But not that we can attribute to a foreign country."
When it comes to foreign election meddling, online disinformation and propaganda campaigns are "much more difficult to combat," Nielsen said.
"My biggest concern is that a foreign entity will take the opportunity after the election or the night of the election to attempt to sow discord on social media, suggesting something did not work as it should," she said.
Nielsen praised social media companies' effort to combat foreign interference and disinformation even though many lawmakers and tech experts say Facebook, Twitter, and others are not doing enough well enough.
"There could always be more. But they have been tremendous partners," she said. DHS has worked with them on artificial intelligence technology to take down fake accounts, she said. "They've taken a lot of leadership in this area," Nielsen said.
Twitter announced Friday it had deleted more than 10,000 automated accounts during September and October that were attempting to discourage people from voting, but it was the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) that flagged the bots and notified Twitter.
The Tweets included ones that discouraged Democratic men from voting, saying that would drown out the voice of women ...
The DCCC developed its own system for identifying and reporting malicious automated accounts on social media ...
The system was built in part from publicly available tools known as “Hoaxley” and “Botometer” developed by University of Indiana computer researchers. They allow a user to identify automated accounts, also known as bots, and analyze how they spread information on specific topics.
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The Democratic National Committee works with a group of contractors and partners to rapidly identify misinformation campaigns.
They include RoBhat Labs, a firm whose website says it has developed technology capable of detecting bots and identifying political-bias in messages.
The collaboration with RoBhat has already led to the discovery of malicious accounts and posts, which were referred to social media companies and other campaign officials, DNC Chief Technology Officer Raffi Krikorian said in email.
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“We provide the DNC with reports about what we’re seeing in terms of bot activity and where it’s being amplified,” said Ash Bhat, co-founder of RoBhat Labs.
“We can’t tell you who’s behind these different operations, Twitter hides that from us, but with the technology you known when and how it’s happening,” Bhat said.
DHS secretary on midterms: 'Most secure election we’ve ever had' (Politico)
Exclusive: Twitter deletes over 10,000 accounts that sought to discourage U.S. voting (Reuters)