Election Security Czar: Foreign Enemies Ready to Hit '20 Election

Several foreign adversaries are poised to interfere with the 2020 election, and the threats are more sophisticated than the methods used in 2016, election security czar Shelby Pierson said Tuesday.

"The threats as we go into 2020 are more sophisticated," Pierson, the election threats executive at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said in remarks before an election summit sponsored by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, reports NBC News.

"This is not a Russia-only problem," she said. "Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, non-state hacktivists all have the opportunity, means, and, potentially, motive to come after the United States in the 2020 election to accomplish their goals."

After her speech, Pierson told NBC News that U.S. intelligence agencies have been tracking hacking from Russian military agencies, including the efforts that were flagged Monday in an attempt to get access to networks at Burisma, the Ukraine firm that once employed Joe Biden's son Hunter. 

The intelligence community will give information to candidates and parties that could be targeted by a foreign government, particularly if the target can act on the intelligence. Pierson also commented on a recent "NBC Nightly News" report that some voting systems still connect with networks through modems, saying that is judged to "be a vulnerability."

There are also efforts underway to expose actions taken by Russia, and secret intelligence operations to stop them, she said, adding that is important to let adversaries know that election interference will not be tolerated, and that "there will be consequences."

Pierson added, she wants the American voting public to understand the threats posed and that they know where to vote, how to vote if they are not on the voter rolls, know where to seek true information on candidates and ballots, and know what threats are out there so they are "empowered to participate" in the voting process.

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