CISA and FBI Issue PSA on Cyber Threats Targeting Election Officials Ahead of 2026 Midterms

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have issued a Public Service Announcement (PSA) alerting election and campaign officials to increased cyber threat activity surrounding the 2026 U.S. midterm elections. According to the PSA, malicious cyber actors are employing sophisticated phishing and smishing campaigns that impersonate legitimate communications through convincing emails, text messages, audio, and video content. The objective of these campaigns is to manipulate recipients into disclosing sensitive credentials or interacting with malicious links and attachments, which could lead to credential theft, malware installation, and unauthorized access to voter registration data and campaign information.

Election officials, candidates, and political organizations are considered attractive targets due to their access to sensitive datasets, current government officials, and campaign infrastructure. The PSA emphasizes that there are no confirmed active exploits or victim counts cited at this time, but the techniques observed are increasingly convincing and pose a significant risk to the integrity of election-related communications. CISA and the FBI urge all stakeholders to review the PSA, verify sender authenticity, and maintain robust cybersecurity hygiene to mitigate the risk of compromise.