According to US Cyber Command chief Admiral Michael S. Rogers, the military has drawn up plans to “help” make sure that there is no foreign interference in November’s election. The admiral’s comments come in the wake of the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement that it is considering taking control of the electoral process to ensure the results are “correct”:
Concerns about Russian hacking into the November 8 election have now reached the Pentagon where the military’s top cyber official has outlined a plan to help the Fbi and Department of Homeland Security to track an election altering attack.
What’s more, Adm. Michael S. Rogers, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, has added his voice to that of Homeland Secretary Jeh Johnson who is considering whether the election system is critical infrastructure, like the power grid and financial sector, and subject to federal oversight.
“‘What is critical infrastructure in this digital age? Data, I would argue, is taking on a very different value in and of itself. And the ability of individuals to harness the tools of big data analytics now make access to large data concentrations…very attractive,’ Rogers said at Harvard University this month in a video released Wednesday.
‘I look at the election sequence for example, as an example of, ‘Do we need to step back and reassess this? Hey, look, this really is part of our critical infrastructure?’ he said.
Rogers, at an event sponsored by Harvard’s Institute of Politics speaker program, quickly added that the military is and won’t be involved in elections, but instead in tracking foreign attackers if there are any.
‘What we do is we are trying to understand the actions of foreign actors as they are trying to approach the network, if you will,’ he told the student audience.
Rogers said that there is an advantage to having 50 separate state election systems instead of a national one that would be an easier target. But he noted that one state could make a difference if results are manipulated.”
Source: Washington Examiner
Photo: Defence.gov
oh HELL no