The Mississippi secretary of state’s office website was repeatedly targeted by cyberattacks on Election Day, prompting the government’s website to be shut down, the department said on social media Tuesday.
The department’s website does not contain voting data, but it is a source for voters on how and where to cast their midterm ballot.
“It has come to our attention that several state websites have experienced problems today, including the Secretary of State’s office,” the office said. “If you are having trouble accessing election information, please feel free to call our elections hotline (1-800-829-6786), your local circuit clerk, or your local election commissioner. Polls remain open until 7 p.m. :00 pm go out and vote!”
2022 MID-TERM ELECTION: LIVE UPDATES
The Mississippi Secretary of State’s office website provides information on where and how to vote.
(sos.ms.gov)
Russian hackers had called for the website to be attacked, according to NBC News.
Other websites had been targeted by DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks on Tuesday but were not taken offline, according to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, WAPT-TV in Jackson reported.
Michael Watson is the Secretary of State for Mississippi.
(ms.sos.gov)
ELECTION DAY: CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, ILLINOIS, CLERK SAYS CYBER ATTACK CAUSED CONNECTIVITY ISSUES
The Mississippi Secretary of State’s office website was down for several hours Tuesday due to hackers.
(sos.ms.gov)
“We have been in conversation with them for the last few hours, working with some of the vendors to put the mitigations in place,” the agency told reporters Tuesday night. “And I expect that to be mitigated here in the next two hours. We’ve been working directly with them.”
The website was back online at 7:30 pm local time.
The attack is the largest “sustained” attack in the US, CISA said, according to WAPT-TV.
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The bureau did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s after-hours request for comment.
