Senate Dems press FBI over Russian hacking response

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) are demanding answers from the FBI on its response to Russia attempting to hack voting machine company VR Systems during the 2016 presidential election.

The incident was revealed in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, which said Russia in August 2016 targeted employees of “a voting technology company that developed software used by numerous U.S. counties to manage voter rolls, and installed malware on the company network.”

The company wasn’t mentioned in the report, but VR Systems has since been confirmed as the targeted company.

In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday, Klobuchar and Wyden asked the FBI what steps it took after VR Systems alerted the FBI in August 2016 that it had found suspicious IP addresses on its systems.

“VR Systems indicates they did not know that these IP addresses were part of a larger pattern until 2017, which suggests that the FBI may not have followed up with VR Systems in 2016 about the nature of the threat they faced,” the senators wrote.

During the 2016 elections, several VR Systems voting machines failed in Durham County in North Carolina, leading to some voters being turned away from the polls.

The senators questioned the FBI on whether it had investigated those machines for attempted hacking, and also how the FBI is ensuring that local and state election officials “feel comfortable reporting potential cybersecurity incidents” to authorities.

The Department of Homeland Security agreed last week to conduct an investigation of voting equipment in Durham County.

Klobuchar and Wyden gave Wray until July 12 to respond to their questions.