Election surveys sent by MyPillow CEO-linked group prompt FBI referral

Source: ABC News

November 1, 2024, 6:03 AM


White powder isn't the only strange thing that has been sent to election officials across the country this season. A series of emails sent by a group led and funded by MyPillow CEO and election denier Mike Lindell have been referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to federal officials, after election officers across the country began finding what they said were misleading email messages. Those emails included a survey asking for, among other things, sensitive personal information from those tasked with overseeing the voting process and details about their offices' cybersecurity systems. The messages explained the group was looking to help boost the nation's election integrity.

In an early September email to local election officials, obtained by ABC News, Lindell's "Election Crime Bureau (ECB)" said the group was "investigating what steps have been taken" across the country to "ensure the security of the upcoming 2024 election." The email asked recipients to take a survey about the Center for Internet Security (CIS), a nonprofit focused on cybersecurity that has been working with election offices to prepare for next week's election and subsequent vote counting.

The survey asked if recipients have a "membership agreement" with CIS and its Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), an initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to protect local election offices. It also asked for recipients' home addresses, what network and endpoint cybersecurity protections they had installed, and if those protections had been "provided by" CIS.

Within two hours of finding out about the survey, CIS put out an alert warning that its Cyber Threat Intelligence team had "received multiple reports" of the "Misleading Email to Election Officials" that could falsely "lead a recipient to believe" the note was from their EI-ISAC. The group recommended that staff "not click on any links in these emails or respond to them," and report any suspicious emails to their Security Operations Center. CIS said it also notified the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the branch of the Department of Homeland Security that is working with local election officials to safeguard the election.


Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/election-surveys-mypillow-ceo-linked-group-prompt-fbi/story?id=115374587