Election Security Spotlight — Multidimensional Threats

What it is

Threat actors increasingly use multidimensional threats, or a blend of cyber, information, and physical threat tactics, to advance their unlawful, ideological, and geopolitical objectives. As threat actors continue to rely on multidimensional threat tactics, election officials must also evolve their mitigation and response procedures. Ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, law enforcement and election officials collaborated to proactively address a variety of multidimensional threats, resulting in a safer, more secure election cycle.

Examples of multidimensional threats include:

• Physical threats facilitated by online activity, such as bomb threats, swatting attacks, and violence against public officials and civil servants.
• Cyber threats, such as ransomware, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, website defacements, phishing, social engineering, and stolen credentials.
• Foreign information operations, such as false or misleading narratives, images, and videos intended to undermine trust in the electoral process that are increasingly assisted by the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).

Why It Matters

The emergence of multidimensional threats is fundamentally changing the threat landscape. Cybersecurity has traditionally been viewed as a technology issue. As threats become more complex and dangerous, it is important that election officials consider the new risks associated with multidimensional threats and coordinate with technology providers and local law enforcement to mitigate these risks, especially ahead of the primary and general elections.

What You Can Do

Here are a few ways that your election organization can prepare for multidimensional threats:

• Improve your security posture. Review the Essential Guide to Election Security as your first-stop resource to learn about best practices in election security.
• Build working relationships and coordinate with state and local law enforcement, fusion centers, and security operation centers (SOCs). By working with these entities in your jurisdiction to coordinate efforts, you support the collective ability to provide a joint response to any threat that presents itself.
• Update your incident response plan. Your emergency response plans must account for the new dynamic that multidimensional threats present and in the categories in which threats overlap. Incident response plans should be tested and updated prior to your upcoming elections.
• Increase your voter education efforts. Devote resources to developing public awareness campaigns to remind voters that state and local election offices are trusted sources of election information.
• Educate your staff. Incorporate the evolving threat landscape into training materials for your staff and poll workers. Frequently remind staff and seasonal workers about the importance of good cyber hygiene.
• Stay engaged with the EI-ISAC. Watch for Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center^® (EI-ISAC^®) emails such as the weekly Election Executive Updates, tune in to Quarterly Calls, and attend the ISAC Annual Meeting. The EI-ISAC is committed to keeping you up to date on the ever-changing threat landscape.
• Find additional information. Log in to the CIS Portal and join the Elections Community in Member Connect.

Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.