A Department of Justice employee put up a poster of indicted hackers in Washington on March 24, 2016 (Photo : Getty Images/Alex Wong)
FBI alleges for targeting the voter registration system in Illinois and Arizona by the Russian hackers. The allegation has been made during June while alerting the Arizona officials over the assault on state election system.
Quoting FBI, Matt Roberts, spokesperson for Michele Reagan (R), Arizona Secretary of State has referred the threat as credible. The threat has reportedly scored a significance level of eight out of 10, The Washington Post reported. Reagan has been compelled to stall the state's voter registration process for nearly a week.
The hackers haven't been able to compromise the registration system either of the state or any county. Instead, username and password of a lone official involved in state's voter registration have been hacked.
FBI hasn't clarified whether the hacking has taken place under patronization from the Russian government. The Denver Post informs, the Bureau officials have declined to comment upon contact. They advise private industry as routine works over possible cyber threats detected while conducting random investigations.
However, analysts consider the hacking incident in Arizona as the latest instance for Russian interest over US election systems and intra-party operations. Earlier, the hackers have also reportedly sent embarrassing emails from the computers of Democratic National Committee leading to ultimate resignation of its Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
The recent hackings, believed to be posed by Russian hackers exert tensions over the security of upcoming US presidential election. While communicating a 'flash' alert to the Arizona state officials, FBI has also informed detecting penetration attempt to election systems in different states. They have also claimed for archiving IP addresses and technical details of the infiltrators.
In a separate incident, Illinois officials have also detected penetration attempt into their election system during the month of July. Though no data has been altered, but concerned authorities have been witnessing a huge blow following ultimate compromise of central voter enrolment database.
FBI blames the Russian hackers for penetrating election systems in several US states. The Bureau has neither disclosed details of the hackers nor confirmed direct or indirect Russian state patronization. However, the recent hacking attempts pose threats for further attacks during the upcoming US presidential election.
Video demonstrates some hacking tools used by the hackers.
