WASHINGTON \u2014 Three of the nation\u2019s top intelligence officials said Tuesday that the U.S. has seen Russian activity aimed at meddling in the upcoming midterm elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have seen Russian activity and intentions to have an impact on the next election cycle,\u201d CIA Director Mike Pompeo told the Senate intelligence committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and Adm. Mike Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency, agreed. They didn\u2019t describe the activity, other than to say it was related to information warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They told Congress that they would provide more details in a classified session later in the day. The intelligence officials said the information will be shared with state and local governments and state election officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian interference in the upcoming elections is part of its pursuit of bolder cyber operations and false information campaigns against America and its allies, according to a new intelligence report on global threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year\u2019s threat assessment also described the risk of conflict, especially with North Korea, as higher today than at any time since the end of the Cold War. So, too, is a rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia that is destabilizing the Middle East. The danger posed by weapons of mass destruction also is rising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the next year, Russian intelligence and security services will continue to probe U.S. and allied critical infrastructures, as well as target the United States, NATO, and allies for insights into U.S. policy,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe 2018 U.S. midterm elections are a potential target for Russian influence operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRussians stepped up their game with cyber, in particular, in 2016,\u201d Coats said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His expectation: Russian interference in the midterm or in state elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe think it\u2019s very likely because we don\u2019t see a let up in efforts to do this,\u201d Coats told the AP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. intelligence concluded Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election, which has led to the current FBI investigation into possible Trump campaign connections. Russia denies the allegations and President Donald Trump has called the FBI probe as a witch hunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuesday\u2019s report predicted Russian intelligence agencies will disseminate more false information over Russian state-controlled media and through fake online personas to spread anti-American views and exacerbate social and political divides in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CIA Director Mike Pompeo also has said he expects Russia will insert itself in the November midterms, in which Republicans and Democrats will vie for control of the House and Senate. \u201cWe will push back in a way that is sufficiently robust that the impact they have on our election won\u2019t be great,\u201d Pompeo recently told the BBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson chimed in, telling Fox News the U.S. is seeing \u201ccertain behaviors\u201d of Russian meddling in elections in the Northern Hemisphere, including \u201cin the U.S.\u201d this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coats and other top intelligence officials were appearing at a Senate intelligence committee hearing Tuesday to discuss their annual assessment of global threats facing the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
North Korea\u2019s pursuit of nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the United States, Russian and Chinese aggression, the standoff between Iranian and Saudi Arabia-backed proxies and the threat of cyberattacks are all detailed in the 28-page paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCyber has been a game-changer in many, many ways,\u201d Coats said. \u201cThe United States is under attack \u2014 now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cyber threats are coming from governments, terror groups, criminal organizations, students sitting in dorm rooms and individuals working in basements with the technical ability to breach U.S. agencies, intelligence bodies or the military, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coats said the U.S. must craft responses to minimize attacks. The report singled out Russia, China, Iran and North Korea as posing the greatest cyber threats to the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coats said if those trying to hack America\u2019s critical infrastructure, undermine the government or hit financial institutions aren\u2019t penalized, they\u2019ll keep doing it. \u201cWe are behind the curve in coming to a policy,\u201d he acknowledged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wide-ranging intelligence report also says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 North Korea will likely conduct more missile tests this year and not negotiate away its nuclear capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 The conflict in Syria has shifted in favor of President Bashar Assad, enabling Russia and Iran to further entrench themselves in the country. The Syrian opposition\u2019s seven-year insurgency isn\u2019t capable of overthrowing him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Terror groups and criminal networks will exploit weak governments in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Homegrown violent extremists will be a most pressing but a difficult-to-detect threat in the United States, despite a drop in attacks in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Russian and Chinese weapons to attack enemy satellites in space will likely reach initial operational capability in the next few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Shiite militants will attack American targets in Iraq because they believe the U.S. security presence is no longer needed and support Iran\u2019s aim to reduce U.S. influence in Iraq.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russian interference in the upcoming elections is part of its pursuit of bolder cyber operations and false information campaigns against America and its allies, according to a new intelligence report on global threats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":68291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":38,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"9":{"categories":["cyber"],"primary_category":"cyber"}}},"categories":[38,106,31,33,9],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3033],"class_list":["post-23439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-federal-oversight"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"R6CSMZTXVRFPDIPGLBTMC6ZI4E","arc_canonical_url":"\/critical-infrastructure\/2018\/02\/13\/us-intel-officials-say-russia-targeting-midterms\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n