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National cybersecurity agency says elections face great threats, but are more secure than ever

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National experts say elections this year face their biggest threats - but that the election process itself is more secure than it's ever been.

CISA, or the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is the newest federal agency - started in 2018 to serve as the US's cyberdefense agency and make critical infrastructure secure.

Elections - being designated critical infrastructure - are also under CISA's watch.

Director of CISA Jen Easterly says it's important to keep in mind that the threats has never been more complex - but that our election infrastructure has never been more secure.

Jen Easterly - CISA Director
Jen Easterly - CISA Director

“I have spent an enormous amount of time traveling the country, working with election officials. And I can tell you that I have enormous confidence in the security and integrity of election infrastructure.” she said.

She backs that up saying the machines that Americans use to vote are not connected to the internet - and that over 97-percent of registered voters will pass their ballot in jurisdictions where they will have a paper record that they themselves can verify.

“This includes pre-election testing of equipment and post-election audits," she said.

She expects foreign governments and hackers to try and interfere, but since ballot counters are tested, re-tested, and most voters have a paper trail that can be used to audit any discrepancies, the best hackers can do is disrupt websites, or doxx election workers.

It's disruptive, be she says attacks like those wouldn't have any impact on the election count itself.

“The reality is our election infrastructure has never been more secure," she said.