Lobbyists watered down the bill at every pass, but Mr. Krebs was determined to see it through. For two years, Mr. Krebs quietly assembled a team of deputies to travel the country offering help to secure state election machines, registration systems and polling procedures. Many states, particularly conservative-leaning ones, perceived any kind of federal assistance as its own kind of election interference. Mr. Krebs and his team decided to pivot to handling ransomware — cyberattacks that hold data hostage until victims paid up. Throughout 2019, digital extortionists were holding up American cities, towns, counties and clerks, be it in Atlanta, Baltimore or small towns in Texas.

Source: New York Times November 14, 2020 01:24 UTC