U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Intelligence Committee, on July 25 released the first volume of a bipartisan report detailing recommendations resulting from Russia’s interference with America’s 2016 presidential elections.
“It is my hope that the Senate Intelligence Committee’s bipartisan report will provide the American people with valuable insight into the election security threats still facing our nation and the ways we can address them,” Sen. Burr said.
Sen. Burr and U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the committee’s vice chairman, last week released the 67-page “Volume 1: Russian Efforts Against Election Infrastructure,” which the lawmakers’ offices said builds upon the unclassified summary findings on election security that the committee released in May 2018.
“In 2016, the U.S. was unprepared at all levels of government for a concerted attack from a determined foreign adversary on our election infrastructure,” said Sen. Burr. “Since then, we have learned much more about the nature of Russia’s cyber activities and better understand the real and urgent threat they pose.”
Key recommendations in the report include paying renewed attention to vulnerabilities in the U.S. voting infrastructure, including aging voting equipment, and recommends that Congress consider an additional appropriation to address remaining insecure voting machines and systems.
Additionally, the United States must create effective deterrence and communicate to adversaries that it will view an attack on its election infrastructure as a hostile act and respond accordingly, among other recommendations listed in the report.
The committee submitted this first volume on social media for declassification review and intends to release the remaining installments in the fall, according to Sen. Burr’s office.
For instance, the Senate Select Intelligence Committee plans to release final volumes examining the Intelligence Community Assessment of Russian interference; the Obama administration’s response to the interference; and the role social media played, according to Sen. Burr’s office.
While the senator acknowledged that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and state and local elections officials have dramatically changed how they approach election security, he said “there is still much work that remains to be done.”