Homeland Security Clarifies, Confirms Hacking Attempt In Wisconsin

After a week of confusion and conflicting reports, the state Elections Commission confirmed Friday that Wisconsin was unsuccessfully targeted by Russian hackers in 2016.

Those hacks include two scans of state computer systems — which help hackers figure out how much security is in place — and an attempt to put an ad linking to a “suspicious IP address” on a state computer, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Reid Magney, spokesman for the Elections Commission, said the state is confident no systems were successfully hacked during the election.

“Nobody broke in, nobody changed any voter records, nobody stole anything, nobody changed any votes, nobody stole any elections,” Magney said. “Some Russians drove by looking for information and realized they couldn’t get in.”

Magney said the federal government has additional evidence of attempted hacking in Wisconsin, but it can’t be made public for security reasons.

The state Elections Commission is in the process of developing a new security plan before the 2018 election and plans to implement changes, including encrypting the state’s voter registration database and creating a more secure sign-in process for election officials to access online systems.

Magney said the commission will also work to improve communication with the federal government about hacking.

“What we had was a problem with was how the information was shared — or not shared — and really a part of this has to do with the growing pains of Homeland Security getting involved in elections,” he said.

Wisconsin was first notified by Homeland Security last Friday that it was one of 21 states targeted by Russian hackers in 2016.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated with original reporting from WPR at 4:28 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29, 2017.