The cybersecurity and infrastructure security authority has frozen all its electoral security work and checks everything that it has done Help the state and local officials to secure their elections Wired has learned in the past eight years. The move is the first major example of the country’s cyber defense agency, which submits the wrong statements of election fraud and online censorship of President Donald Trump.
In a memo that was sent to all CISA employees on Friday and received by WIRED, Cisa’s reigning director Bridget Bean said that she had “a review and evaluation” of every position of the agency in connection with the safety and security of vocal and security and security dependent on the election protection Consideration and disinformation“As well as any election security and every (mis, discussion and malinformation) product, activity, service and program that has been carried out since the federal government” defined Elective systems as a critical infrastructure in 2017.
“CISA will pause all security activities for the elections until this review has been completed,” added Bean. The agency also reduces the financing of these activities The election infrastructure information exchange and the analysis centerA group financed by the Department of Homeland Security, which has served as a coordinating institution for the electoral community.
In her memo, Bean confirmed that Cisa and how, how first registered by politicoplaced the employees “initially associated as in connection with the elections security activities and the MDM program” on February 7th.
“It is necessary to save the agency’s election activities to ensure that the CISA focuses exclusively on the execution of its cyber and physical security mission,” she told the employees in the memo.
While Bean is temporarily listing the CISA, she is officially the executive director of the agency, his top career position. Cisa’s first director created the role of the executive director To provide continuity during political transitions. Previously, Bean was a Trump representative At the Federal Emergency Management Agency During his first term.
When justification of the internal review of the CISA, which will end on March 6th Trump’s executive order on January 20th About “termination of the federal censor”. Conservatives have argued That CISA censored her speech by investigating the first term of the online fehlin information with technology companies in 2020 last year. CISA contested the implementation of a censorship and the Supreme Court of the United States dismissed a lawsuit About the work of the government. But after the counter reaction, Cisa Most of the conversations stopped With technical platforms via online mission.
CISA and DHS did not immediately respond to inquiries about comments.
Since 2017, state and local election officers have rely on the specialist knowledge and resources of CISA and its partnerships with other agencies to improve their physical and digital security. Through consultations on site and online guidelines, CISA helped the election administrator to secure the voice infrastructure against hackers, to create the polling stations against active shooters and polling-place backup plans in order to deal with a lack of ballot papers or power failures.
Election managers have always had problems managing serious challenges for financing, but their jobs have become even more stressful in recent years harassment and evenly Threats of murder. Calculation officers of both parties have repeatedly praised the CISA for their apolitical support of their work and declared that the recommendations and the free security services of the agency are of crucial importance to increase their own efforts.
