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The Russians hijacked two Florida counties in the 2016 elections, but the security breach "did not affect the vote count," Governor Ron DeSantis said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"I recently met with the FBI about the electoral problem mentioned in the Mueller report," DeSantis said. "Two Florida counties had an intrusion into the networks of election supervisors and there was no manipulation."
DeSantis's statements confirm the findings detailed in the report of the special advocate Robert Mueller on Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 elections. The report says "the FBI believes that this operation has allowed [Russian military intelligence] to have access to the network of at least one Florida County Government "during the 2016 election.
The FBI informed the governor on Friday that two counties had been penetrated. He said that he could not tell which counties were affected because of a confidentiality agreement with the FBI.
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In July 2018, Mueller's office indicted at least 12 people suspected of working for the Russians, alleging that hackers had used a fake e-mail account similar to that of VR Systems, Florida, which provides voter registration systems. , "To send more than 100 spearphishing emails to organizations and staff involved in election administration in many Florida counties," according to the indictment.
Hackers may have been able to access information about voters who are already the subject of a public record, but the data breach did not affect the count of votes, DeSantis explained. .
"The two counties involved here, the FBI were working with them in 2016, to identify and take action that could be taken," said DeSantis, indicating that both counties were aware of the security threat ahead of the elections. 2016.
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Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Who was about to be re-elected at the time, warned that the Russians had "entered certain counties of the state and that". they now had the leisure to move. he told the Tampa Bay Times.
Nelson was defeated in the Senate by Gov. Rick Scott, R-Fla, who denied being aware of the existence of such a security threat and asserted that Nelson's assertions were merely nurturing the fears of interference from Russia.
The former governor, who held the post at the time of cybermanning, will be informed by the FBI on Wednesday.
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