DHS secretary says there's 'little doubt' US elections are a target of cyber attacks



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Speaking at the summer conference of the National Association of Secretaries of State in Philadelphia on Saturday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the US intelligence community does "consistently observe malicious cyber activity from various actors against US election infrastructure," according to prepared remarks released by the department.

"Nielsen told the state officials, who are responsible for administering elections.

Still, she said, There are "no indications that Russia is targeting the 2018 US midterms at a scale or scope to match their activities in 2016."

Nielsen said the intelligence community has persisted "persistent Russian efforts using social media, sympathetic spokespeople, and other "

Nielsen's remarks to a day after the Justice Department announced indictments against 12 Russian military intelligence agents as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, accusing them of engaging in a "sustained effort" to hack Democrats' email

"Yesterday's indictments against the Russian intelligence officers are a demonstration of the fact that we will not be able to tolerate interference in the future."

The Homeland Security secretary Also asserted that "no votes were altered" by Russia's actions in the 2016 election.

The US intelligence community concluded in 2017 that Russia had been meddled in the 2016 presidential election and that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an "influence campaign" aimed at Donald Trump and Hurting Hillary Clinton's Campaign.

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats on Friday also warned against growing cyberattack threats against the United States, saying in a speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC, that the situation is at a "critical point."

The US is not yet seeing the kind of electoral interference We're in the 2016 "by the Kremlin," Coats said. "However, we realize that we are just one of a kind repeating itself," he warned.

Homeland Security and top intelligence officials have been warned for some time now that Moscow is still a threat to the 2018

"The 2018 midterms remain a potential target for Russian actors," Christopher Krebs, the department 's top infrastructure and cybersecurity official, told the House Homeland Security Committee during a Wednesday hearing. But, like Coats and Nielsen, he said, "the intelligence community has a strong influence on the fabric of the House or Senate races."

CNN's Tal Kopan Contributed to this report.

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