FEC shuts web services after attempted intrusion before midterms
Original title: Hackers Attempt to Breach U.S. Election Commission Systems, Triggering Major Service Outage
New electronic campaign-finance filings were blocked; officials have not confirmed access or theft, and voting systems were not involved.
The U.S. Federal Election Commission took web-facing services offline after an electronic filings officer warned that a bad actor was attempting to breach agency systems. The filing service went down around 10 p.m. Eastern Time on October 26, blocking new 24-hour and 48-hour spending disclosures ahead of the November 3 midterms. Older reports stayed searchable. An October 27 status notice said a fix was being implemented, but the incident remained unresolved. No attacker, flaw, malware, or data theft has been identified.
Unconfirmed: Officials have not confirmed a successful breach, data theft, entry point, malware, or attacker.
- The electronic filing service became unavailable around 10 p.m. Eastern Time on October 26.
- An October 27 notice said the issue was identified and a fix was being implemented.
- The outage blocked new 24-hour and 48-hour disclosures, not previously filed searchable reports.
- Reuters, citing OpenSecrets, said super PACs averaged more than $50 million in daily spending.
Impact: Delayed campaign-finance filings; no confirmed data theft
- Countries
- United States
From the original article
2 min read at gbhackers.com
Hackers targeted the U. S. Federal Election Commission’s systems, forcing the agency to shut down online services and disrupting campaign finance filings just days before the November 3 midterm elections.
By Divya · gbhackers.com
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