U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered the creation of a task force to examine how his Justice Department can better combat a wide cross-section of global cyber threats, including efforts to interfere with elections or damage critical infrastructure.
The announcement on Tuesday came amid renewed concerns about how Russia and foreign adversaries may attempt to disrupt the 2018 midterm elections, which are less than 10 months away.
"The internet has given us amazing new tools that help us work, communicate and participate in our economy, but these tools can also be exploited by criminals, terrorists and enemy governments," Sessions said in a statement.
In an official memorandum signed on Friday but released on Tuesday, Sessions asked the task force "to prioritize its study of efforts to interfere with our elections."
It also asked the task force to examine how the internet is used to spread violent ideologies and to recruit followers; how hackers steal corporate, governmental and private information; and how technology is used to "avoid or frustrate law enforcement," a reference to concerns about the prevalence of strong encryption.
The task force will issue a report to Sessions by the end of June, the Justice Department said.
Trump blames Obama
U.S. President Donald Trump again accused his predecessor on Tuesday morning of not doing enough to prevent Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump tweeted Barack Obama thought Hillary Clinton "was going to win and he didn't want to 'rock the boat."' But Trump said when he won, "the whole game changed and the Russian excuse became the narrative of the Dems."
“There is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even rig America’s elections, there’s no evidence that that has happened in the past or that it will happen this time, and so I’d invite Mr. Trump to stop whining and make his case to get votes.” .....
—@realDonaldTrump
....The President Obama quote just before election. That’s because he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win and he didn’t want to “rock the boat.” When I easily won the Electoral College, the whole game changed and the Russian excuse became the narrative of the Dems.
—@realDonaldTrump
Trump's tweet included a quote from Obama saying in October 2016 that "there is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even rig America's elections." Obama was addressing Trump's claims of voter fraud, not Russia's attempt to influence voters on social media.
Obama has defended his response to Russian meddling, saying he had told the Russian president to "cut it out."
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