Election infrastructure has ‘never been more secure,’ CISA chief says

(Washington, D.C.) -- With less than a week before the 2024 presidential election, the infrastructure has "never been more secure," according to the head of the federal agency tasked with America's cyber defense.

Jen Easterly, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), told ABC News' Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas that she has "incredible confidence" in the security of the election.

"I understand why some Americans have questions, because they've been subjected for years to a fire hose of disinformation, and it has undermined confidence in the election systems and in our democratic institutions, but I have spent so much time on the ground over the past three plus years with state and local election officials who are on the front lines of running and managing and defending election infrastructure, and I can tell you, I have incredible confidence that our election infrastructure has never been more secure," Easterly said during an interview at CISA headquarters.

"Election officials have never been better prepared to deliver safe and secure and free and fair elections for the people," she said.

For example, she said that 97% of registered voters will cast a ballot in jurisdictions where they'll get a paper record that they themselves can verify, which is "incredibly important," she said.

Voting machines are not connected to the internet and that is a "great source of protection."

That disinformation is being amplified by foreign adversaries, according to Easterly, who pointed to various examples of disinformation already being debunked -- such as a fake video of ballots being destroyed in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

She said foreign adversaries have two goals: to undermine American confidence in the election and sow discord in the country.

"Within a day, the federal government used our tools, our forensic analysis, to affirm that it was a fake video, that it was a Russian manufactured video," she said. "So at the end of the day, we are going to lean very far forward when we see inaccurate information that could undermine Americans trust in elections."

CISA is also responsible for advising election officials on the physical security of their election.

"As a retired Army officer, as a combat veteran who has been in very dangerous places where we've had flak jackets and, you know, we've been behind layers of security, it is disconcerting to me, as an American, to see election offices with bulletproof glass and panic buttons and barbed wire fences," Easterly said. "That's not the way it should be in America, and we know that these threats, harassment, bullying, swatting, threats of violence to election officials and their families, election officials of both parties largely stemming from unfounded claims that the 2020 election was rigged."

She said election workers are not "faceless bureaucrats," but rather friends and neighbors.

"They're not doing it for pay or for glory. They're doing it because they believe in our democracy, and they deserve respect, they deserve gratitude, and they deserve to be safe," she said,

The director said recent incidents such as the ballot boxes being set on fire in Oregon and Washington and the denial of service attack against the Georgia Secretary of State's office are expected to happen but voters should be assured there is no impact on their elections.

"What Americans should understand is these incidents will not impact the security or integrity of votes being cast or those votes being counted as cast. And election officials have trained for this, they've exercised for it, they've prepared for this - all manner of scenarios, whether it's ballots that need to be replaced or cyber security threats that need to be dealt with, or for criminal activity like fraudulent registrations that need to be investigated And the perpetrators held criminally accountable. Election officials are prepared for this. They're ready for this to meet this moment."

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.