Trump officials asked CISA to secretly hack a voting machine and not
disclose any vulnerabilities they found

Date:
Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:20:00 +0000

Description:
The vulnerabilities were not to be disclosed to anyone outside the White House, CISA was told.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Trump administration officials asked CISA to hack a voting machine just months into his second term CISA was told not to disclose any vulnerabilities to the voting machine manufacturer CISA has been gutted by job cuts and a lack of funding, with many state officials hesitant to trust the agency with securing the midterm elections Towards the start of President Trumps second term, allies in the Department
of Homeland Security tasked the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) with secretly acquiring a voting machine with instructions to hack it and not tell anyone except the White House about the vulnerabilities they found.

ProPublica , who spoke to two former administration officials with knowledge of the request, noted that the standard practices of CISA require the agency to let manufacturers know of vulnerabilities in their technology, but the political appointees explicitly asked CISA not to. My thought was they could keep it in their back pocket to invalidate any [election] results they dont like, one of the former officials told ProPublica . This goes against everything CISA represents. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: CISA asked to hack voting machine CISA has been a relentless target of the Trump Administration, with the agencys jobs being cut by one third and
the majority of its senior leadership resigning or being fired .

In total, CISA has cut 1,000 jobs since the start of Trumps second term - largely down to Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency - with additional cuts to funding in 2027 likely to result in a further 900 jobs being lost. You may like FBI warns of torrent of scams and deepfakes ahead of US midterm elections AI agents aggressively tried to hack US and Canadian government websites US says Chinese hackers broke into Justice Department, NASA, Federal Reserve, Senate, and more

As a result of these job cuts, remaining CISA employees told the political appointees that the request to hack a voting machine couldnt be fulfilled.

Since 2018, CISA has been responsible for helping to protect election infrastructure from cyber attacks and interference, but has had to cut back
on much of its work in these areas due to a lack of funding and staff. Many state officials have been unable to seek election support ahead of the November midterm elections. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign
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As a result of Trumps cuts to CISAs jobs and funding, many state officials fear the agency has become a shell occupied by Trump loyalists. Theyve violated the entire premise of that information-sharing relationship, a
former high-ranking federal cybersecurity official told ProPublica . Theres
no fucking way theyre ever going to give any information to CISA. And its unclear if they ever will in the future.

In response to the claims, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said, President Trump has done more than any other President to ensure we have free and fair elections.

I dont pay attention to what the president says. I pay attention to what his administration does, said Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. And what theyve done is basically cut us off and left us on our own. What to read next DeepSeek AI tools banned from US government agency systems as rift with China grows Federal agencies sued amid allegations Trump admin could be using AI safety framework to hide AI manipulation and corruption CISA says over 100 US water systems were targeted in July 2026 alone Voting difficulties start
early Early voting for the midterms has already started in some states, but early polling sites at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the University of North Carolina Greensboro, and Western Carolina University have been shut down, with Guilford County board members saying the resources could be better allocated elsewhere .

Shutting the polling sites makes it significantly harder for the collective 40,000 students to vote, with university policy preventing some students from owning a car during their first year of study.

Shia Rozier, a senior at North Carolina A&T and cofounder of student organization Protect Ours NC told NPR , In order to get to the polls, they
now have to get a Lyft or get a Uber or get somebody to take them at a time where gas prices are extremely high, creating an additional barrier to the poll.

In response, students organized a march to the nearest polling site over 45 minutes away. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred
source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/trump-officials-asked-cisa-to-secretly-hack-a-vo ting-machine-and-not-disclose-any-vulnerabilities-they-found


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