Foreign cyber threats against midterm polls expected by NSA, Cybercom head

Adversarial nation-states are foreseen by U.S. Cyber Command and National Security Agency Director Army Gen. Joshua Rudd to take aim at the country's midterm elections in November based on previous polls targeting, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

While the U.S. has warded off foreign interference in its elections with the formation of an Election Security Group in 2018, Rudd said in a testimony before the Senate Armed Forces Committee that he was uncertain whether the NSA and Cybercom had reconvened an ESG with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI, and other agencies for the upcoming midterms.

"I think it is really important to set up an ESG and I will follow up with you on whether that is happening," Rudd added. Meanwhile, offensive cyber intrusions were recommended by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, to be launched against foreign leaders looking to compromise American elections. Such a hearing comes amid increased election security concerns following the Trump administration's gutting of CISA and other federal initiatives against misinformation and disinformation.