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FEC Restores Filing System After 41-Hour Cyberattack

By Drooid · Oct 29, 2026 · How we work

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Summary

The Federal Election Commission restored its filing system after a cyberattack forced it offline for nearly 41 hours.
An unidentified ‘bad actor’ attempted to breach the FEC’s systems, prompting the shutdown.
The outage blocked political groups from filing required 24-hour and 48-hour expenditure reports.
Super PACs and dark-money groups spent over $50 million daily the week before the outage.
Watchdogs warned delayed disclosure harms voter transparency before the Nov. 3 midterms.

Summary

FEC spokesperson said the website’s search function stayed operational during the cyber-attack.
Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum stressed the outage does not affect voter registration or ballot casting.
IT staff led by Myles Martin worked continuously to restore the electronic filing platform.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency opened investigations into the breach.
After applying a fix, the commission said it will continuously monitor system performance.

History

In summer 2016 Russian groups Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear breached Democratic National Committee and voter-registration systems in states, stealing 200,000 Illinois voter records. The FBI’s August flash alert and a DHS hotline warning to Moscow spurred a push for election-security assistance. A 2018 Senate Intelligence Committee report deemed response inadequate, prompting new funding for election security and calls for stricter reporting before 2024 midterms.

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In summer 2016 Russian groups Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear breached Democratic National Committee and voter-registration systems in states, stealing 200,000 Illinois voter records. The FBI’s August flash alert and a DHS hotline warning to Moscow spurred a push for election-security assistance. A 2018 Senate Intelligence Committee report deemed response inadequate, prompting new funding for election security and calls for stricter reporting before 2024 midterms.

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