Cyberattack concealed political spending by big donors before US midterm elections

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) restored its electronic filing system on Wednesday night after a 41-hour cyberattack, which concealed spending from major donors as political donations increased ahead of the US midterm elections. Campaign watchdogs expressed concern as the outage extended into its third day. Super PACs and similar groups were unable to submit required 24- and 48-hour reports detailing their political spending during this period, obscuring crucial information from the public.

Campaign finance expert Molly White highlighted the significance of this lack of visibility, stating that it occurred at a time when spending is rapidly accelerating. The outage coincided with a period of intense political spending, with Super PACs and dark money groups averaging over $50 million daily the week prior to the disruption.

The FEC has since restored most services, but the cause of the attack remains unknown. Campaign finance watchdog Hilary Braseth emphasized that delayed disclosure of political spending is detrimental, as transparency is essential during the final days of an election. The timing of the cyberattack has sparked speculation and conspiracy theories within the industry, as it could potentially enable malicious actors to conceal unfavorable spending.

Despite the disruption, the FEC stated that the outage would not impact voters' ability to cast their ballots.