Foreign Entities, Cyber Crooks May Try To Corrupt US Election Process, Information - FBI

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2020) Foreign entities and cybercriminals may seek to confuse and undermine the current US national election process by disseminating false news, rumors and misleading information including on spurious websites, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

"Foreign actors and cybercriminals could create new websites, change existing websites, and create or share corresponding social media content to spread false information in an attempt to discredit the electoral process and undermine confidence in US democratic institutions," the joint statement said.

State and local officials typically require several days to weeks to certify elections' final results in order to ensure every legally cast vote is accurately counted and the increased use of mail-in ballots due to COVID-19 protocols could leave officials with incomplete results on election night, the agencies explained.

"Foreign actors and cybercriminals could exploit the time required to certify and announce elections' results by disseminating disinformation that includes reports of voter suppression, cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure, voter or ballot fraud, and other problems intended to convince the public of the elections' illegitimacy," the statement said.

The FBI and CISA urged the US public to critically evaluate the sources of the information they consume and to seek out reliable and verified information from trusted sources, such as state and local election officials, the statement added.