How U.S. Could Stop Potential Midterm Election Meddling from China, Russia

The U.S. government will defend the midterm elections from potential interference by China and Russia through co-operation between government agencies and with a focus on potential cyberattacks.

The Department of Defense (DOD) published a statement on its website on Thursday from the Cyber National Mission Force and National Security Agency (NSA) warning of potential interference by foreign actors with less than three months to the midterms.

The joint Cybercom-NSA Election Security Group (ESG) was activated again in early 2022 in advance of the elections, and the DOD outlined some of the possible threats facing the U.S. this year.

"According to the Office of Director of National Intelligence, Russia, China, Iran and other foreign, malicious actors may seek to interfere in U.S. voting processes and influence voter perception," the DOD statement said.

"Such foreign activity can threaten to undermine fundamental principles of U.S. democracy and influence U.S. public sentiment," they added.

That interference could take the form of cyberattacks and other methods, with the U.S. government "actively defending against foreign interference and influence operations in U.S. elections, specifically, by focusing on how adversaries seek to undermine U.S. interests and prosperity, the will to vote of the populace, as well as their belief in the sanctity and security of their elections."

However, the Cyber Command and NSA statement did not make reference to any specific threats that might currently exist or single out any foreign actor as more likely to interfere than others.

ESG's goals are to generate insights on foreign adversaries who may seek to disrupt the midterms, improve defense by sharing information with other U.S. agencies as well as industry and allied partners and to "impose costs on foreign actors who seek to undermine democratic processes."

Those insights will involve the NSA's foreign intelligence gathering, while Cybercom's cyber operations are responsible for defending against and disrupting cyberattacks.

The statement emphasized partnership and co-operation between government agencies and specifically highlighted the role communication between agencies could play in preventing any election interference.

"For example, if the ESG sees a cyberattack occurring in foreign space, it could communicate that information to domestic agencies to mitigate the issue and use its offensive cyber authorities to disrupt and degrade that foreign cyber actor's operations," Cyber Command and the NSA said.

Cybercom and the NSA are also partnering with other government agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, as part of their efforts to fight potential election interference.

Air Force Brigadier General Victor Macias is the co-leader of ESG, as well serving as Cybercom's co-lead and deputy commander of Cyber National Mission Force.

He is joined in leading ESG by Anna Horrigan, NSA's senior executive and election security co-lead.

"We are building on previous successes, while also maximizing our strong relationships and synchronizing often - enabling the U.S. to respond rapidly to election threats," Horrigan said.

Horrigan emphasized the importance of working with partners and said: "We can't just watch our adversaries—we have to do something about it, whether sharing timely information or taking action against that actor. Our nation expects that of us."

Newsweek has asked DOD for comment.

Elections to the House of Representatives and the Senate will take place on November 8 and the outcome could prove all important for the future of President Joe Biden's agenda.

Newsweek has contacted the foreign ministries of Russia and China for comment.