Aug 25, 2020 - Politics & Policy

NSA director says U.S. "disrupted a concerted effort to undermine" 2018 midterms

A chess board

Illustration: Lazaro Gamio / Axios

The U.S. "disrupted a concerted effort to undermine the midterm elections" in 2018, writes NSA Director and head of U.S. Cyber Command Paul Nakasone, along with senior Cyber Command adviser Michael Sulmeyer, in Foreign Affairs.

Why it matters: Nakasone and Sulmeyer reveal that lessons from those incidents are being used to protect November's election from foreign interference.

  • Experts at the NSA and Cyber Command "formed the Russia Small Group (RSG), a task force created to ensure that democratic processes were executed unfettered by Russian activity."
  • "It shared indicators of potential compromise, enabling DHS to harden the security of election infrastructure."
  • "It also shared threat indicators with the FBI to bolster that organization’s efforts to counter foreign trolls on social media platforms."
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