KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The impact of misinformation during an election cycle can be tremendous, which is why the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is warning of its rise.
CISA was formed in 2018. Since elections are categorized as critical infrastructure, CISA helps ensure they stay secure.
"The machines that Americans use to vote are not connected to the internet," said Jen Easterly, director of CISA. "... The reality is our election infrastructure has never been more secure.”
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Hackers and foreign governments may not be able to change votes or mess with machines, but they can make it appear as they have.
According to CISA, that's exactly what they've been doing.
"Looking to undermine American confidence in our election processes and our democracy. They're looking to pit Americans against each other," Easterly said.
For example, a recent video circulated on social media showed what appeared to be election workers tearing up ballots in Pennsylvania.
It's fake.
U.S. intelligence said Russia is actually behind the video.
But it doesn't stop there. CISA said China, Russia and Iran have ramped up misinformation campaigns.
"Our foreign adversaries may try to make us believe that these disruptions have an impact on the vote, and we cannot let them," Easterly said. "We should not do the job of our foreign adversaries for them."
CISA has found elaborate fake news websites meant to look like national or local news outlets. The sites list fake journalists with fake profiles and post a mixture of real and fake articles.
"We saw actors portraying themselves as the Washington Post as well as FOX News — portraying themselves as legitimate local or regional websites that they manifest that aren’t real," said Cait Conley, CISA's senior advisor for election security.
Conley and Easterly said they've seen more fakes this election cycle than ever before, so they said it's crucial to verify where information comes from before you post online.
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