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Georgia’s secretary of state: DHS tried to breach our firewall
Cyber Scoop ^

Posted on 12/08/2016 6:22:38 PM PST by TigerClaws

Georgia’s secretary of state has claimed the Department of Homeland Security tried to breach his office’s firewall and has issued a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson asking for an explanation.

Brian Kemp issued a letter to Johnson on Thursday after the state’s third-party cybersecurity provider detected an IP address from the agency’s Southwest D.C. office trying to penetrate the state’s firewall. According to the letter, the attempt was unsuccessful.

The attempt took place on Nov. 15, a few days after the presidential election. The office of the Georgia Secretary of State is responsible for overseeing the state’s elections.

“At no time has my office agreed to or permitted DHS to conduct penetration testing or security scans of our network,” Kemp wrote in the letter, which was also sent to the state’s federal representatives and senators. “Moreover, your department has not contacted my office since this unsuccessful incident to alert us of any security event that would require testing or scanning of our network. This is especially odd and concerning since I serve on the Election Cyber Security Working Group that your office created.”

“The Department of Homeland Security has received Secretary Kemp’s letter,” a DHS spokesperson told CyberScoop. “We are looking into the matter. DHS takes the trust of our public and private sector partners seriously, and we will respond to Secretary Kemp directly.”

Georgia was one of two states that refused cyber-hygiene support and penetration testing from DHS in the leadup to the presidential election. The department had made a significant push for it after hackers spent months exposing the Democratic National Committee’s internal communications and data.

In an interview with Politico, Kemp intimated that the federal government’s hacking fears were overblown, saying “they now think our whole system is on the verge of disaster because some Russian’s going to tap into the voting system.”

David Dove, Kemp’s chief of staff, told CyberScoop the Georgia secretary of state’s office “got a lot of grief” for refusing help from DHS.

“We basically said we don’t need DHS’s help,” because of the contract with the third-party provider, Dove said.

The office of the Georgia Secretary of State would not reveal who the provider is, only saying the company “analyzes more than 180 billion events a day globally across a 5,000+ customer base which includes many Fortune 500 companies.”

While the majority of states worked with DHS for help in protecting their election systems from hacks, cybersecurity experts were at odds as to what portions of the country would be targeted for Election Day attacks.

Johnson announced shortly after the election that DHS found no evidence of an attack on Election Day.

You can read Kemp’s letter here.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 3rdthread; dhs; georgia

1 posted on 12/08/2016 6:22:38 PM PST by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

I’m sure the DHS was just making sure Georgia was secure. Nothing to see here./s


2 posted on 12/08/2016 6:30:42 PM PST by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: TigerClaws

Good on my state! Tell the feds to piss off.


3 posted on 12/08/2016 6:31:47 PM PST by canalabamian ("The same things win, that always won..." Coach Paul W. Bryant)
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To: TigerClaws

“...Johnson announced shortly after the election that DHS found no evidence of an attack on Election Day. ...”

The Russians didn’t mess with the machines ? /s


4 posted on 12/08/2016 6:33:12 PM PST by WildHighlander57 ((WildHighlander57, returning after lurking since 2000)
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To: TigerClaws

Congressional hearing.


5 posted on 12/08/2016 6:37:50 PM PST by Salvavida (The restoration of the U.S.A. starts with filling the pews at every Bible-believing church.)
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To: TigerClaws

Just 42 more days and these criminals will be gone forever. Then the task becomes getting rid of most of those who form the failed leadership of all Federal Agencies and Departments. Seeing a long line of U-hauls on their way out of Washington DC will be part of the swamp draining exercise.


6 posted on 12/08/2016 6:40:43 PM PST by vette6387
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To: TigerClaws
I didn't know that Jeh Johnson and Obama were "the Russians".

Learn something new everyday.

7 posted on 12/08/2016 6:48:59 PM PST by Bullish
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To: TigerClaws
"Brian Kemp issued a letter to Johnson on Thursday after the state’s third-party cybersecurity provider detected an IP address from the agency’s Southwest D.C. office trying to penetrate the state’s firewall. According to the letter, the attempt was unsuccessful. "

DHS is incompetent, arrogant (incompetent), or compromised (incompetent).

8 posted on 12/08/2016 6:53:57 PM PST by MV=PY (The Magic Question: Who's paying for it?)
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To: vette6387

“Seeing a long line of U-hauls ....”

I prefer a long line of full prison busses leaving DC.


9 posted on 12/08/2016 7:02:22 PM PST by Gator113 (~ LOCK HER UP~ ~DRAIN THE SWAMP~ ~ LOCK HER UP ~ ~DRAIN THE SWAMP~ ~ LOCK HER UP ~)
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To: WildHighlander57

..The Russians didn’t mess with the machines....

DHS did.


10 posted on 12/08/2016 7:02:27 PM PST by Sasparilla (I 'm Not Tired Of Winning)
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To: TigerClaws

They need to check and see if the states where they are fight for recounts, if those states were hacked.


11 posted on 12/08/2016 7:31:21 PM PST by DeWalt (Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.)
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To: Gator113

“I prefer a long line of full prison busses leaving DC.”

Yeah, for the serious violators maybe, but we don’t want to have to pay to keep the useful idiots put away. Just getting them out of DC will be the biggest help, and maybe making sure that they only jobs they can get are at Burger King or Taco Bell!


12 posted on 12/08/2016 7:43:27 PM PST by vette6387
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To: vette6387

That works too.


13 posted on 12/08/2016 8:08:12 PM PST by Gator113 (~ LOCK HER UP~ ~DRAIN THE SWAMP~ ~ LOCK HER UP ~ ~DRAIN THE SWAMP~ ~ LOCK HER UP ~)
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To: TigerClaws

Definitely the Russian DHS!


14 posted on 12/09/2016 9:12:24 AM PST by Freemeorkillme
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To: TigerClaws

BTTT


15 posted on 12/09/2016 9:35:26 AM PST by Freemeorkillme
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