Can Foreign Attackers Change Election Results? Not a Chance, Says Cybersecurity Head

Foreign adversaries will not be able to alter U.S. election results, said Jen Easterly, director of cybersecurity agency.

Can Foreign Attackers Change Election Results? Not a Chance, Says Cybersecurity Head
Photo of Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) speaks to The Associated Press in Washington, on Wednesday by Ben Curtis/AP

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2024 (AP) — Nearly a month out from Election Day, the head of the nation’s cybersecurity agency is forcefully reassuring Americans who have been swept into the chaotic churn of election disinformation and distrust that they will be able to feel confident in the outcome.

State and local election officials have made so much progress in securing voting, ballot-counting and other election infrastructure that the system is more robust than it has ever been, said Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. As a result, she said, there is no way RussiaIran or any other foreign adversary will be able to alter the results.

“Malicious actors, even if they tried, could not have an impact at scale such that there would be a material effect on the outcome of the election,” Easterly told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday.

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