DHS responds to investigation into suspected cyberattack

ATLANTA — There are new developments in the investigation into a suspected cyberattack on the agency that manages Georgia’s elections.

Last week, Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Aaron Diamant broke the news that Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp's office linked the mid-November activity to a Department of Homeland Security IP address.

PREVIOUS STORIES:

• Dec. 15, 2016: More states confirm suspected cyberattacks sourced to DHS
• Dec. 14, 2016: Georgia Sec. of State says cyber-attacks traced to DHS addresses
• Dec. 8, 2016: Georgia Sec. of State wants answers from DHS after apparent breach attempt

On a conference call Friday, DHS officials said the traffic traced back to a federal contractor cutting and pasting data from the Secretary of State’s website into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

DHS officials said the contractor was conducting normal license checks on job candidates.

There is no word yet on why that activity raised alarms with Kemp’s cybersecurity vendor.

Cox Media Group