Mid-term elections will be the "safest" election in US history: DHS leader

Tuesday's midterm elections will be the "safest" election in US history, according to US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, although the US government remains on the alert in the event of electoral malpractices.

"This will be the safest election we have ever had," Nielsen told the audience at a meeting of the Council of External Relations on Friday. "But as we all know, it's a dynamic threat, it changes every minute."

Nielsen said that today, DHS has not witnessed a coordinated attempt by a foreign government to interfere in the US voting infrastructure, such as voter databases, voting and voting machines, but has pledged to warn state and local authorities changes. "

"Everyone should vote. Everyone should have confidence that the state and local communities [officials] do everything they can to secure the infrastructure, "she said. "Because a very important thing here is that the opponent wins if we do not vote, right?"

Nielsen acknowledged that US electoral systems are "permanently attacked". Prior to the 2016 election, hackers linked to Russia swept or surveyed the electoral infrastructure in the 50 US states, said DHS officials, though they apparently have not manipulated archives. This year, said Nielsen, only a few "very limited" access cases – not charged to a foreign campaign – were to be "mitigated".

Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE

US officials and experts, however, witnessed the continuation of Russia's online influence campaign aimed at spreading propaganda, misinformation and incendiary speeches targeting the 2016 elections.

Last month, the Ministry of Justice indicted a Russian national for her alleged role in the plot. Court documents explain in detail how the Russians pretended to be Americans on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere, to "sow discord in the American political system, including creating social and political polarization, undermining confidence in democratic institutions and influencing the US elections, including the upcoming mid-term elections of 2018 ".

Nielsen said these online influence operations were "very pernicious" and "much more difficult to get hold of" than the efforts to secure the electoral infrastructure. The FBI has taken the lead in fighting online misinformation, but Nielsen said the bulk of the strategy was to "educate" the American public to consider the source of the information they read.

"As a country, we must continue to find a way to fight this part," she said.

Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images, FILE

She fears that even the mere suggestion of irregularities on the evening of the election or after it will undermine confidence in the process.

"My biggest concern," said Nielsen, "is that a foreign entity seizes the opportunity, after the election or the night of the elections, to attempt to sow discord on social media by suggesting that something was not working as it should in a certain sector. "

Information operations experts recently told ABC News how difficult it is to fight online disinformation campaigns, with domestic and foreign trolls and bots constantly evolving to circumvent the new security policies put in place by social media companies .

"So now, the people at the front line of defense are the people at the technology platforms and what they're going to find, is that, when they change the state of the art , that they change a little the rules, the opponent will evolve. and answer, "said Renee DiResta, research director at the New Knowledge Cybersecurity Company based in Austin, Texas. "It will be an arms race that will take place in the indefinite future."