Foreign interference

Spy chief warns of foreign interference in 2020 election

By MARTIN MATISHAK

Foreign adversaries are likely already planning to interfere in the 2020 U.S. election, the nation's top intelligence official warned on Tuesday.

In a worldwide threat assessment to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats wrote that competitors such as Russia, China and Iran “probably already are looking to the 2020 U.S. elections as an opportunity to advance their interests.”

In his statement, he predicted that these countries "will use online influence operations to try to weaken democratic institutions, undermine U.S. alliances and partnerships and shape policy outcomes in the United States and elsewhere."

Furthermore, he said, they'll "refine their capabilities and add new tactics as they learn from each other’s experiences, suggesting the threat landscape could look very different in 2020 and future elections."

The prognosis comes roughly a month after Coats revealed Moscow attempted to interfere in last year's midterm elections, but failed to compromise the country's election systems. It also shows that the clandestine community remains keenly aware of the threat following the massive, Kremlin-backed assault on the 2016 presidential election.

The assessment offered by Coats, based on input from the entire U.S. intelligence community, predicts Russian social media campaigns will focus on "aggravating" social and racial tensions and striking back at anti-Kremlin politicians. Moscow may also seek to spread disinformation, launch cyberattacks and manipulate data.

China is "expanding its ability to shape information and discourse," according to Coats, especially on topics like Taiwan and human rights. Beijing is also capable of launching digital attacks against the U.S. to "censor or suppress" unflattering points of view.

Iran, meanwhile, will continue to use online influence campaigns to advance its interests.

Coats also warned foreign nations probably would attempt to create convincing fake audio and video — known as "deepfakes" — to advance their causes. They may also use cyber means to "directly manipulate or disrupt election systems — such as by tampering with voter registration or disrupting the vote tallying process — either to alter data or to call into question our voting process."