Tuesday, October 3, 2017

State of Wisconsin is cyber targeted up to 60,000 times on an average day. Even if "Russia" were 100 of them, it wouldn't be news. Wisconsin is already the most double-checked state having completed a full recount of its 3 million votes-AP...(Why is Trump DHS still flitting around Wisconsin talking about scary "Russians?")

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Trump DHS on 9/22/17 told Wisconsin that the Russian government “tried to hack” its election system. Four days later, 9/26/17, Trump DHS said they made a mistake, Wisconsin wasn’t “targeted” by Russia after all. The State of Wisconsin receives up to 60,000 attempted hacks daily, so even if Russia was 100 of them it’s not news.Wisconsin has already been the most carefully double-checked state, having recounted all 3 million of its votes and finding no evidence of hacking. Trump gained 131 votes in the recount.

On 9/22/17, Trump DHS told Wisconsin that "Russian government cyber actors" "tried to hack" its election system:

9/22/17, "Russians tried to hack election systems of 21 states in 2016, officials say," USA Today Network, Patrick Marley, Jason Stein, Journal Sentinel

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Trump DHS backtracks about Wisconsin and Russia: Two AP articles, 9/26/17 (Bauer) and 9/28/17 (Day):

9/26/17, "Homeland Security now says Wisconsin election wasn't targeted by Russians," AP, Scott Bauer

"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reversed course Tuesday and told Wisconsin officials that the Russian government did not scan the state's voter registration system.

Homeland Security told state elections officials on Friday (9/22/17) that Wisconsin was one of 21 states targeted by the Russians, raising concerns about the safety and security of the state's election systems even though no data had been compromised. But in an email to the state's deputy elections administrator that was provided to reporters at the Wisconsin Elections Commission meeting on Tuesday, Homeland Security said that initial notice was in error."...

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Second AP article: 

Trump DHS says: Even if Russians didn't "scan" Wisconsin computers, "it doesn't mean they weren't looking to break into them." 

9/28/17, "DHS: Hackers targeted other systems to find weak spots," AP, Chad Day 

"(Obama holdover Scott) McConnell said the department stands by its initial assessment that 21 states were targeted by "Russian government cyber actors" looking for vulnerabilities in and access to election infrastructure. He noted that some of the intelligence used to make that determination cannot be shared publicly.....

The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday sought to clear up confusion over its assessment that 21 states had their election systems targeted by Russian government hackers, saying just because the hackers in some states didn't directly scan election systems, it doesn't mean they weren't looking to break into them."...

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Added: 60,000 attempts to “scan,” “hack,” or “target” Wisconsin state computers take place every day. Even if “Russia” were 100 of them, it wouldn’t be news. Why is Trump DHS selling attempted “scans” as something scary and close to an act of war? Wisconsin could reduce cyber interest in its elections by conducting voter registration by mail and keeping all records off computers. 

Source for 60,000 attempts: 

The State of Wisconsin gets up to 60,000 attempts every day from entities “looking to” access holes in its computer system: “On a typical day over the past two years, the state (Wisconsin) has logged fewer than 60,000 of these alerts, which attempt to find holes in state systems.” 9/26/17, In reversal, feds proclaim Russians did not seek to hack Wisconsin’s election system,Journal Sentinel, Patrick Marley

Added: 

Wisconsin has already been the most carefully double-checked state. In Dec. 2016 it completed a recount of its 3 million votes. Trump not only won Wisconsin again, he gained 131 votes. “Wisconsin Elections Commission Chairman Mark Thomsen says the recount revealed no evidence of any hacking."
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12/12/2016, “The Latest: Trump celebrates adding 131 votes in Wisconsin,AP, Madison, Wisc.  



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