At noon today, I felt a huge sense of relief, accomplishment, and closure. The #Protect2020 effort we launched alongside 1000s of partners in the election community came to an anti-climatic, yet powerful close. Democracy held, despite efforts to subvert the will of the people.
We all did our part to ensure the 2020 election was as secure as possible. And it was. No Kraken, no zombie dictators, and no widespread fraud. This was a free & fair election. We upheld and defended the Constitution irrespective of political affiliation. Country over party.
It still exhausts me thinking about the collective effort that so many people put into defending democracy across @EACgov, state and local partners rep'd by @NASSorg and @NASEDorg, as well as the Intel Community, @FBI, @US_CYBERCOM, and others.
I think about what so many went thru, including @GaSecofState, @JocelynBenson, @Commish_Schmidt, @mastersonmv, @katiehobbs, and countless others that kept at it with sheer determination and patriotism in the face of threats to life and limb. You're all heroes in my book.
And yet there's no rest for the weary. Elections aren't just every two years, elections occur all the time. The full scope of the consequences - including the breach of trust by elected officials and the threats - from the 2020 election may not be known for some time.
In the meantime, we have to continue investing in our elections infrastructure. We have to increase civics education to help American voters understand how elections and our system of government in general work. We have to increase digital literacy.
There will be postscripts written for this election. I know this: we did it right. This was a secure election. To those that have bought in to #TheBigLie, you've been manipulated as a part of a larger political & ego-driven game. There must be accountability for us to move ahead.
We must also come to grips with the disinformation disease that's sweeping the globe. It's not just elections, we're seeing it play out across #COVID vaccines and 5G. I hope to do my part w/ @AspenDigital #InfoDisorderComm, working across society for solutions near and long term.
But contributing to election security efforts has now been hardcoded into my DNA - there's plenty of work to do, and I look forward to getting back at it however I can.

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More from @C_C_Krebs

9 Jan
In the Summer of '19 @mastersonmv and the @CISAgov elections team started the #WarOnPineapple to raise awareness about how #disinfo campaigns work. Step 5, "Taking the Conversation into the Real World," is what we saw on Weds when incited insurrectionists stormed the Capitol.
The rigged election claims had all the hallmarks of a foreign influence operation. From identifying the hot button issue, mobilizing accounts, trolls & other high profile accounts beating the drum, & then hopping into mainstream media. Unfortunately, it was a domestic operation.
We saw the rigged election narrative forming over the summer and feared that left unchecked it could land us right where we are, physical violence. So among other efforts, we launched CISA.gov/RumorControl to debunk rumors like hacked voting machines & break the #disinfo chain.
Read 9 tweets
4 Jan
"American voters decide American elections" was our mantra this year. That holds true. American voters decided this election. This last ditch effort to overturn the will of the American voter & the Constitution should be called out for what it is: Un-American and anti-democratic.
These efforts also reinforce the foresight of the Constitutional framers in delegating the authority to conduct elections to the states, rather than a Federal body. An incumbent should NEVER be able to put their thumb on the scale of national elections.
I'm also so thankful that PA and GA prioritized replacing the old paperless voting systems they had in 2016 for the current systems with a voted ballot. There's much more to do, and Congress needs to provide states steady $ to invest in democracy.
Read 4 tweets
13 Dec 20
As news breaks about what looks to be a pretty large-scale hack, I have the utmost confidence in the @CISAgov team and other Federal partners. I'm sorry I'm not there with them, but they know how to do this. This thing is still early, I suspect. Let's let the pros work it.
Also, hacks of this type take exceptional tradecraft and time. On the 1st, if this is a supply chain attack using trusted relationships, really hard to stop. On the 2nd, I suspect this has been underway for many months. Need good detections to find victims and determine scope.
If you’re a SolarWinds customer & use the below product, assume compromise and immediately activate your incident response team. Odds are you’re not affected, as this may be a resource intensive hack. Focus on your Crown Jewels. You can manage this.
Read 6 tweets

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