FBI, CISA remind US voters that DDoS attacks can't touch election systems

US law enforcement and cybersecurity agencies, including the FBI and CISA, have issued a public service announcement reassuring voters that distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks will not compromise the integrity of the upcoming presidential election's voting systems. This announcement follows a recent eight-hour outage of Microsoft Azure, which was initially caused by a DDoS attack and worsened by a flaw in Microsoft's defenses. The agencies emphasized that while DDoS attacks could disrupt access to information services, such as voter look-up tools, they would not prevent eligible voters from casting their ballots or compromise the internal systems of election infrastructure. The PSA also highlighted that past claims by cyber actors suggesting DDoS attacks could undermine election integrity are misleading. The agencies encouraged the public to rely on official sources for information and to report any issues with election-related websites. Additionally, concerns about election interference have been raised, particularly regarding influence operations from foreign adversaries like China, Iran, and Russia, which have historically sought to undermine public confidence in the electoral process. Recent surveys indicate a significant decline in voter confidence, with only 58% of US citizens believing they can vote freely, down from 91% in 2016. The FBI and CISA's message aims to mitigate fears surrounding potential cyber threats to the electoral process as the election approaches.