National Guard cybersecurity experts are preparing to help during the midterm elections in several states in the event of potential threats, officials said Friday, Politico reported.
According to the output:
The support ahead of, during and after midterm elections in the 14 states on Tuesday comes after National Guard Cyber ​​Forces supported eight states during primary elections earlier this year. In all, there are 38 cyber units within the National Guard as a whole consisting of more than 2,200 people who support state and local officials in matters such as network assessments and risk mitigation.
To support the midterms, National Guard officials will work with and receive security updates from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, which is the key agency charged with protecting election infrastructure against cyber threats.
Participating states are listed as North Carolina, Arizona, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, New York, Washington, and West Virginia.
Meanwhile, National Guard officials who will oversee security measures Tuesday say the service component needs to invest more in units working against threats, Military.com reported Friday.
“We’re in the early days of cyber. We’re in the biplane era, the early years. The funding, the policy, all the infrastructure that we need is lacking,” said Maj. Gen. Richard Neely, who is the deputy commanding general of the Illinois National Guard.
“Some of our states are doing really great work, but we’re all on a journey. Just as we need helicopters in every state, we need cyber capabilities in every state. And we need a robust structure to build on,” he added.
However, officials have not identified any specific cyber threats for the upcoming election.
Maj. Gen. Todd Hunt, adjutant general of the North Carolina National Guard, said his state has 10 cyber personnel, but more officials will join them on Election Day.
Hunt explained, “We are citizen soldiers, we live in this state, and we have a vested interest in our state elections as well as our federal elections.”
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden (D) this week warned citizens of Republicans taking power in the midterm elections, Breitbart News reported Wednesday:
“We the people must decide whether the rule of law will prevail or whether we will allow dark forces and … the thirst for power to trump the principles that have guided us for so long,” Biden said during a speech delivered at Union Station.
…
Biden’s speech was highly partisan, ignoring Democrats who protested the results of the 2016 election falsely declaring Trump an illegitimate president elected due to Russian influence. He also ignored incidents of Democratic political violence and political figures refusing to recognize legitimate elections.
Despite their warnings, Breitbart News Washington bureau chief Matt Boyle said during an interview Sunday, “Republicans are clearly on the path to a majority” in the Senate.