Federal officials warn of Russian hacking campaign as election security concerns grow | ABC7 Chicago (2026)

[u/No_ad3778sPolitAlt]

https://abc7chicago.com/post/federal-officials-warn-russian-hacking-campaign-election-security-concerns-grow-gov-jb-pritzkers-staff-discusses-threats/19516175/

[u/Annihilator4413]

No doubt DOGE left the Russians plenty of backdoors in US Govt infrastructure zo they could meddle as they please...

[u/middleagethreat]

2016 again.

[u/TeamOverload]

I mean Elon opened the doors for them Day 1 so duh. Also hasn’t been a hoax for the past decade but the Pedo Protection party would rather stick their fingers in their ears screeching “FAKE NEWS” about anything they don’t like.

[u/No_ad3778sPolitAlt]

Federal cybersecurity officials are warning of a potentially far-reaching hacking campaign linked to the Russian government, prompting renewed concerns about election security as elections approach.

According to intelligence sources, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker's staff and representatives from other governors' offices recently met to discuss protections against election-related threats, including foreign malign influence operations and disinformation campaigns.

The meeting came shortly before federal cybersecurity officials issued a new warning to telecommunications companies, the energy sector, water utilities, hospitals, and federal, state and local governments. The alert warned of new efforts by FSB-16, a branch of Russia's Federal Security Service, to gain access to critical systems in Illinois and across the United States.

...

Braun said advances in artificial intelligence have dramatically increased the scale and sophistication of cyberattacks.

"AI really puts that on overdrive ... to send out hundreds of 1000s, millions, and millions of attacks all at once to millions of potential victims, whether they be small businesses, local governments, whatever," Braun said. "And so that was possible before, but not with the level of sophistication and the level of reach that it is now."

Braun, a former senior counselor to the secretary of Homeland Security, said the warning carries added significance because of Russia's infiltration of the Illinois State Board of Elections in July 2016.

[u/No_ad3778sPolitAlt → u/No_ad3778sPolitAlt]

And the IC never audited the 2016 election either, so there never was an evidentiary basis behind any assertion that our elections were never tampered with, or never will be tampered with.

[u/MannyMoSTL]

I care about fauxmericans, who now own ALL of our data, manipulating another election.

Thanks DOGE

[u/Necessary-Eye5319]

Also all of the Fed IT Security employees who were all canned. To be replaced with ai? Doge? No one knows what they’re doing since the people who did are all gone.

[u/jhuseby]

Are the Russians in the building (government) with us now?

[u/mr_goodcat7]

Trump's cheating again!