Cybersecurity in Elections: International Collaboration to Counter Interference Threats

Line of Effort 7: Safeguard Democratic Processes and Institutions

With more than 70 countries and nearly half the world’s population experiencing elections in 2024, their vulnerability to cyber-enabled interference—including potential cyberattacks that disrupt electoral processes; espionage, surveillance, and intimidation of politicians, activists, and journalists; and cyber-enabled malign influence activities that seek to impact election outcomes and undermine public confidence in elections—is particularly acute. The United States has highlighted publicly and in international engagements that it considers election infrastructure to be part of critical infrastructure. It has also noted some states’ efforts to use cyber means to destabilize democratic processes. The United States, allies, and partners will continue to expose and defend against malicious operations designed to destabilize democratic processes and societies, including by sharing threat information and strengthening the resilience of election commissions and other key institutions. The United States, for example, joined a United Kingdom-led effort in 2023 to call out Russia-backed online influence actors and hackers for operations targeting UK politicians and democratic processes. This diplomatic effort was accompanied by the Department of Justice concurrently announcing criminal charges against two of the responsible actors.