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Tags: usa | china | midterms | gop | democrats | cyberattack

FBI Warns Both Parties of Pre-election Cyberattacks From China

By    |   Monday, 17 October 2022 02:28 PM EDT

The FBI has preemptively begun alerting Democratic and Republican state parties to Chinese hackers potentially targeting their respective headquarters in the coming weeks, leading up to the Nov. 8 midterm elections, according to The Washington Post.

In the report citing U.S. officials, FBI agents in field offices have already established contact with Democratic and Republican state leaders, regarding the possible vulnerability of their respective computer systems.

However, none of the political parties have reported any external hacks or breaches, according to the Post.

"[This is] part of a larger move that the FBI isn't waiting for the attack to occur," a U.S. official told the Post.

"Cybersecurity remains a top priority for the entire Republican ecosystem, which is why we place a premium on ensuring our stakeholders have the necessary tools, resources, and training on best practices so that our Party remains protected and vigilant," Emma Vaughn, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee (RNC), recently told The Hill.

Vaughn also noted the RNC's computer systems are secure and have not been compromised.

As Newsmax chronicled two weeks ago, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) had confidence then that widespread election interference from "cyber actors" would be "unlikely."

For the agencies' Oct. 5 statement, the FBI and CISA assessed "that any attempts by cyber actors to compromise election infrastructure are unlikely to result in largescale disruptions or prevent voting."

According to The Hill, the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future recently surmised that China's state-sponsored groups are likely conducting "malign influence operations" targeting U.S. voters, with the intent of creating a larger chasm between the two major political parties.

Also, the report speculated on China using the midterms window as a response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., touring Taiwan in August, making her America's highest-ranking official to visit that region in 25 years.

"China likely views electoral interference and voter influence ahead of the U.S. midterm elections as an appropriate response to the US's perceived interference with Taiwan," according to Recorded Future's report.

At the time, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Pelosi and the American government for essentially authorizing the trip, saying it "gravely undermines peace and stability" and would have "a severe impact on the political foundation of China-U.S. relations."

China isn't this country's only adversarial concern with cyberattacks.

Back in April, Newsmax covered how CISA warned that Russia's cyberthreats against infrastructure targets could extend beyond the borders of Ukraine.

At the time, the FBI, NSA, and CISA identified that Russian threat as "the most comprehensive view of the cyberthreat posed by Russia to critical infrastructure released by government cyber experts since the invasion of Ukraine," which dates back to Feb. 24.

The CISA advisory also provided alerts of perpetrators from the Russian Federal Security Service, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, and the Russian Ministry of Defense, Central Scientific Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics potentially executing "malicious cyberoperations" in the coming days and weeks.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


Newsfront
The FBI has pre-emptively begun alerting Democratic and Republican state parties to Chinese hackers potentially targeting their respective headquarters in the coming weeks, leading up to the Nov. 8 midterm elections, according to The Washington Post.
usa, china, midterms, gop, democrats, cyberattack
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2022-28-17
Monday, 17 October 2022 02:28 PM
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