Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has rejected reports in U.S. media that Russia may have been involved in hacking into online voting systems in the United States ahead of the November U.S. presidential election.
Peskov said on August 30 that the reports were "absolutely unfounded" and "unsubstantiated," and that "as a whole, we don't consider it necessary to pay attention to this in any way."
U.S. media reported on August 29 that the Federal Bureau of Investigation found two U.S. states' online voting systems had been hacked and was urging all states to increase computer security before the election.
The FBI's Cyber Division sent out an alert this month after Illinois and Arizona reported breaches. The alert comes as U.S. intelligence officials increasingly worry that hackers sponsored by Russia or other countries may attempt to disrupt the presidential election.
Cybersecurity experts say recent breaches at the Democratic National Committee and elsewhere in the Democratic Party were likely carried out by people within the Russian government. The Kremlin has denied any involvement.
State voter databases typically include voters' names, home addresses, and other identifying information.
Yahoo News reported on August 29 that Illinois's online voter registration system was shut down for 10 days in late July after hackers downloaded personal data on up to 200,000 voters.
The Arizona attack was more limited and involved introducing malicious software into the voter registration system, Yahoo said.
Concerns about election computer security prompted U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to recently offer to help states make their voting systems more secure.