“Our IT department … had set up the security infrastructure to keep us safe from cyberattacks, and it was the case that we received over 1 million attempts of intrusion to our county network, and 600,000 came from Russia and Bulgaria], and we successfully protected our IT systems from those attacks thanks to our IT and our security team,” Makhija said during a Wednesday morning press conference.
Montgomery County Election Board Chairman Neil Makhija addresses reporters during a Nov. 6, 2024 press conference in Norristown. (Rachel Ravina – MediaNews Group)
Makhija, who also serves as vice chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, added that “thankfully we have a firewall that is successful, and we have no reason to believe that the IT system was intruded upon.”
The focus on cybersecurity during elections comes nearly two weeks after a “fake” video circulating on social media in late October “purporting to show Bucks County mail-in ballots being opened and destroyed,” the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. A federal investigation revealed the video was “manufactured and amplified” by Russia. The incident was reported by multiple media outlets.
Bucks County election officials issued a bipartisan statement denouncing “this type of behavior [that is meant to sow division and distrust in our election systems” and “unequivocally condemns this purposeful spreading of dangerous disinformation.”
“This Russian activity is part of Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the U.S. election and stoke divisions among Americans, as detailed in prior ODNI election updates. In the lead up to election day and in the weeks and months after, the IC expects Russia to create and release additional media content that seeks to undermine trust in the integrity of the election and divide Americans,” federal officials said in an Oct. 25 statement.
Montgomery County election officials stressed confidence in security measures taken throughout the 2024 general election, which resulted in a more than 81 percent voter turnout, according to unofficial figures released as of Wednesday morning.
“So we’ll have to do a continued assessment of what was attempted and what we can continue to do as a county to make sure that our system is safe, but for the voter’s sake, there’s no reason to believe that that interfered with the results with the tabulation of election,” Makhija said.
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