Hillary Clinton has said if elected president she will make clear that the U.S. “will treat cyberattacks just like any other attack.”
Clinton said in a speech Wednesday to the American Legion convention in Cincinnati that the U.S. needs to “step up our game” and be able to defend itself against those who “go after us.”
She blamed Russia for hacking into the Democratic National Committee and perhaps “even some state election systems.”
WikiLeaks released damaging emails during the Democratic National Convention that implied the DNC had favored Clinton over primary rival Bernie Sanders, and an FBI flash alert warned of foreign hackers targeting voter databases in at least two states earlier this week.
Illinois election officials said Wednesday they’ll mail notices to about 700 voters whose records were viewed during a cyberattack on the state’s voter registration system database last month and more letters could follow.
In an Aug. 31 news release, the Illinois State Board of Elections says it “strongly” suspects another 86,000 records were viewed and staff is working to identify those voters. If a voter’s records were viewed, hackers could have obtained the voter’s address and date of birth.
Earlier this week, Ken Menzel, the board’s general counsel, said as many as 200,000 records could have been accessed. Menzel says information accessed is not tied to vote-counting software so election results could not be altered.
Arizona also experienced a hack-related shutdown earlier in the summer.
Clinton said the United States will be ready with “serious political, economic and military responses” to any cyberattacks.
