Trump has significantly reduced the role of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Hegseth’s announcement comes weeks before Election Day on November 3, with early voting already underway. CISA last week released an election infrastructure security plan outlining possible threats to voting systems and the assistance it could provide to state and local election officials.
US military intelligence and cybersecurity agencies will help protect American election systems during the November midterm elections, defence secretary Pete Hegseth has said. Election systems were designated as “critical infrastructure” in 2017, paving the way for greater federal cybersecurity support. The National Security Agency and other military cyber units have long assisted with monitoring election infrastructure and defending it against possible hacking attempts. The announcement follows major changes to the civilian agency responsible for protecting US election infrastructure. President Donald Trump has significantly reduced the role of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, within the Department of Homeland Security. The agency was specifically created to help protect critical infrastructure, including election systems. David Becker, a former US Justice Department attorney who now heads the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research, questioned the timing of the latest move. Cybersecurity assistance from the NSA and US Cyber Command is not new. However, election experts, civil rights groups and Democratic officials have expressed concern about possible government interference in voting and ballot-counting processes.