Russia’s Central Election Commission announced on Saturday 19 September that the electronic voting system in the capital Moscow had been subjected to a powerful and sustained cyberattack overnight, as voters continued casting ballots in a parliamentary election lasting three days. Commission head Ella Pamfilova said the situation remained under control despite the continued attacks on the system.
Sustained attack targets Moscow voting system
Pamfilova said, while at the commission’s information centre, that the latest information received by the commission indicated that Moscow’s system had faced an extremely powerful, continuous and non-stop attack throughout the night. She described the attack as near-permanent, large-scale and extremely severe, adding that attempts to target the system were continuing.
The Central Election Commission head added that teams were successfully fending off all the attacks and that Moscow’s remote electronic voting system continued to operate normally. She said the attacks had not halted the electronic voting process in the capital. Pamfilova confirmed that technical specialists and election organisers had the situation fully under control.
She said the system’s level of security allowed voting to continue without interruption, alongside efforts to fend off the ongoing cyberattacks targeting Moscow’s voting platform. Russian voters began casting ballots on Friday 18 September in the parliamentary election scheduled to take place over three days.
The election for the State Duma in its ninth convocation is taking place from 18 to 20 September, with 10 parties taking part in the contest, while the remote electronic voting system continues to operate in the capital alongside the ballot.
