The office of Georgia’s secretary of state said it fended off a cyberattack believed to have come from a foreign nation intended to paralyze the battleground state’s absentee voter website.
The secretary of state’s cyber team was alerted to a dramatic spike in attempts to access Georgia’s absentee ballot portal Oct. 14. The portal, which was slowed but not stopped, is the website where voters request absentee ballots.
The state’s voting systems aren’t connected to the internet and were not affected, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
“[The event] had the hallmarks of a foreign power or a foreign entity working at the behest of a foreign power,” said Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the secretary of state’s office.
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A man fills out a ballot at a voting booth May 17, 2022, in Mt. Gilead, North Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
The attack was stopped “thanks to robust safeguards in place,” the office’s spokesperson said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the tech firm Cloudflare, which aides the state’s cyber defense capabilities, and the FBI.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) referred questions to Georgia officials.
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Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer in the office of the Georgia secretary of state, speaks during a news conference at the State Capitol Oct. 23, 2024, in Atlanta. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The incident came as officials have warned of election-related cyberattacks that include the targeting of political campaigns and election offices.
U.S. adversaries like Russia, China and Iran have tried to undermine the democratic process through a variety of cyber tactics, Microsoft said in a report released Wednesday.
Russia remains focused on the Harris-Walz campaign, while Iran has scouted election-related websites and media outlets, suggesting preparations for more direct influence operations as Election Day nears, the report said.
Chester County, Pa., election workers process mail-in and absentee ballots at West Chester University in West Chester Nov. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
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“The actors’ history of election interference and their pattern of cyber-influence operations underscores the persistent threat they pose,” the report states.
