14 DAY TRIAL // A joint statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) accuses the Russian government of recent attacks on US voter registration systems, but also the DNC and DCCC hacks.
The statement, published late Friday afternoon, October 7, cites an investigation carried out by the US Intelligence Community (USIC), who "is confident" that the Russian government is behind the attacks.
USIC says the recent Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) hacks and subsequent leaks are classic techniques used by the Russian government to sway public opinion.
US: Russian government approved hacking of DNC & DCCC
"Such activity is not new to Moscow - the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there," the statement reads. "We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities."
The statement also mentions the DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks websites, and the Guccifer 2.0 online persona. These are the official channels through which some of the data stolen during those incidents has reached the public eye.
Even if the US government didn't release any evidence, this doesn't mean there isn't any. Multiple cyber-security firms, and especially ThreatConnect, have published research linking the hacks to a cyber-espionage group believed to be operating out of Russia.
No evidence to link Russia with state election hacks
In regards to the recent scans and probing of US state election systems, USIC says the source of those attacks are servers operated by a Russian company.
"However, we are not now in a position to attribute this activity to the Russian Government," the statement reads.
Government officials were adamant, once again, that external third parties can't hack its voting system. The previous attacks only targeted state voter registration databases and not the actual voting machines, which aren't connected to the Internet.
This statement is in line with what FBI Director James Comey said during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, September 28.
The US government took the opportunity to urge state and local election officials to seek the help of the DHS to secure their voting machines.