A few months before this year’s US presidential election in November, the US State Department announced that it would offer a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification of hackers working with or for a foreign government to interfere in US elections through illegal cyber activities. The illegal activities include attacks against US election officials, US election infrastructure, voting machines, and candidates or their staff.
The State Department’s announcement comes less than 100 days before the election, which will pit Donald Trump against Democratic nominee Joe Biden. However, the State Department said the reward applies to any form of election hacking, at any level – federal, state or local elections.
The Department also cited attacks it fears will take place during the election season, expressing its desire to stop them. Specifically, it noted that foreign adversaries could conduct malicious cyber operations targeting election infrastructure, including databases and voting machines, to undermine U.S. elections. He also added that such adversaries could conduct malicious operations against US political organizations or campaigns, with the aim of stealing confidential and sensitive information, as well as leaking that information to undermine political organizations or candidates.
The Department’s goal is to identify and expel foreign-funded hackers who could interfere in U.S. elections, thereby threatening national security and foreign policy. The reward will be paid through the “Rewards for Justice” and applies only to information provided about the activities of hackers associated with foreign governments who may be attempting to interfere in U.S. elections – not information about any individual hacker.
It is worth noting that this is the third large reward offered for information about hackers through the “Rewards for Justice” program. In April, government officials offered a reward of $5,000,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of North Korean. U.S. officials have discovered that North Korean hackers have been responsible for a large number of cyberattacks that have taken place in recent years with the ultimate goal of financial gain.
Additionally, in July, the State Department offered a second significant bounty for foreign hackers. Specifically, it offered two separate $1 millionfor information leading to two Ukrainian hackers linked to a breach that occurred at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2016.
The State Department's move to offer a reward at this time is linked to the fact that the 2016 U.S. presidential election was marred by foreign interference emanating from Russia. Specifically, Russia was accused of hacking the servers of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and leaking stolen information for months, aiming to influence public opinion through bias and partisan media coverage of future President Donald Trump. Then-U.S. President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on the Russian hackers before leaving the administration.
