The disruption hinders organizations from submitting the FEC’s required 24-hour and 48-hour disclosure reports, which detail political spending on individual races. Sarah Silbiger/CQ Roll Call
FEC takes down electronic filing platform after attempted hack
The commission holds no role in administering U.S. elections, meaning any impacts to its systems will not affect voting in the upcoming midterms.
The Federal Election Commission has pulled down multiple filing systems amid reports indicating that the agency was targeted in a cyberattack.
The hacking attempt, first reported by Reuters, put the government’s primary campaign finance regulatory agency in the crosshairs. The FEC does not administer U.S. elections, and cyber incidents related to the commission would not affect how votes are cast in next week’s midterm elections.
A notification email obtained by Nextgov/FCW indicated that several systems remained offline, including various filing search features, campaign finance report validation tools, and other feeds and channels. The notice adds another update will be provided Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday night, an FEC spokesperson referred Nextgov/FCW to a commission status update page, adding that electronic filing systems are offline and that staff are “actively working to restore service.”
An update issued around 8:20 p.m. ET Tuesday night says an issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented.
The incident is timely, as it comes days before midterm elections will be held in the U.S. and as groups pour record levels of money into campaign efforts. The disruption hinders organizations from submitting the FEC’s required 24-hour and 48-hour disclosure reports, which detail political spending on individual races.
A disruption to campaign finance reporting can limit timely public visibility into election spending, said Gabrielle Hempel, a security operations strategist at cybersecurity firm Exabeam.
“What is the backup process, how are filings received and disclosed while the system is down? How quickly can the agency restore service without sacrificing the integrity of the data? Disruptions like these can have a massive impact on public trust without ever actually touching a ballot,” Hempel said.