Election security cutbacks force local officials to go it alone

"Local election offices are left with fewer resources, less threat intelligence, and diminished federal guidance. "It's kind of heartbreaking to know that they worked [on] creating these relationships and partnerships over the last decade, and they'renowjust disintegrating," Brianna Lennon, the county clerk in Missouri's Boone County, tells Axios. Bloomberg reported yesterday thattheCybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's election monitoring room, which has been stood up during every election cycle to field and share information about active threats to elections, isn't operating this year."

"Earlier this year, the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), which provides real-time threat alerts to election operators, lost its federal funding. CISA also laid off its election-focused staff, including field workers who conducted physical and digital assessments of election systems. "I'm not a cybersecurity expert - I know enough of it to be able to ask the right questions, hopefully - but that expert's view is what we're missing," Lennon says."

Federal election security efforts were scaled back beginning in January, reducing funding, staffing, and direct support to state and local election officials. The Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC) lost federal funding and CISA laid off election-focused staff, including field workers who performed physical and digital assessments. CISA's election monitoring room is not operating this cycle, limiting real-time threat sharing. Local election offices now face fewer resources, diminished federal guidance, and less threat intelligence. Election officials are conducting tabletop exercises and relying on regional networks and national associations for threat information.

Read at Axios