Foreign cyber threats likely to target 2024 elections

The U.S.'s voting infrastructure could be targeted by Russia and other foreign threats in the months leading up to next year's presidential elections, according to The Associated Press. With the U.S. providing aid to Ukraine amid the latter's ongoing conflict with Russia, Russia could launch retaliatory cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure, including the country's election systems, said Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly. China has also been cited by Easterly as a potential threat to the U.S. elections following the recent emergence and takedown of a suspected spy balloon. Additional federal funding is being sought to ensure election safety protections at the state and local levels but the country's decentralized election system presents a challenge. "A lot of times if you dont see anything bad happen in the cybersecurity space, its kind of forgotten about. People dont remember that this is a real and imminent threat, and so getting those local jurisdictions, their governing bodies, to really buy into this concept and to support sustainable solutions for local election jurisdictions continues to be a real challenge, as well," said Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator and National Association of State Election Directors President Meagan Wolfe.