Campaign Cybersecurity Resources

Each day, both government and private websites are at risk of cyber attack, and campaigns are no different. It’s up to you to be ready. Below you will find valuable tools that will help candidates and campaigns reduce their risk and be better prepared to respond to incidents.

State and local candidates and campaign staff should report suspicious activity to their local FBI field office and the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center at the contacts listed below.

Resources

• Cyber Resource Hub – Entities can request assistance from the DHS Cyber Resource Hub.
• DHS Campaign Checklist (PDF) – DHS developed a one-page checklist for campaigns. This checklist will assist you in protecting yourself against cybersecurity threats in addition to providing guidance for developing incident response plans. Although this document is not comprehensive, every campaign can benefit from reviewing and implementing DHS’s recommendations.
• FBI’s Protected Voices video series – The FBI developed a series of informative videos aimed at mitigating the risk of cyber influence operations targeting U.S. elections. These videos will raise awareness among political campaigns about the best ways to fend off attempts to infiltrate IT infrastructure. They also cover the most urgent cybersecurity issues that may leave a campaign’s computer networks vulnerable to attacks.
• Harvard Kennedy School of Government's Belfer Center: Campaign Playbook (PDF) – The Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs developed the Defending Digital Democracy Cybersecurity Campaign Playbook designed to give simple, actionable information that will make your campaign’s information more secure from adversaries trying to attack your organization, and our democracy.  This playbook discusses managing cyber risk and provides seven steps to securing your campaign, including “good” and “enhanced” levels for those willing to take extra steps to advance their security interests.
• Belfer Center resources – Campaign Staff Handout (PDF) – Anyone on your campaign team can be a target.  For easy training of campaign staff, the Belfer Center worked to encapsulate key points from the Campaign Playbook into this two-page handout.
• Belfer Center resources – Candidate and Family Handout (PDF) – This publication is designed for candidates and their families. The six simple steps included here will help you mitigate risk from cyberattacks – both personally and professionally.
• Facebook Protect – Facebook launched additional security protections for candidates, elected officials, and political parties. By enrolling qualifying accounts, Facebook will help adopt stronger account security protections and monitor for potential hacking threats. 
• Cloudflare for Campaigns – Cloudflare offers a suite of products designed to safeguard and optimize the performance of a candidate's web presence — and to protect internal data. Cloudflare for Campaigns is geared towards qualifying federal candidates. Other campaign organizations should consult Cloudflare's Project Galileo.
• CISA Insights  – The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released CISA Insights in light of increased sophisticated phishing operations targeting individuals and groups involved in the upcoming U.S. elections.  

Contacts

Federal Bureau of Investigation - Cincinnati Field Office
2012 Ronald Reagan Drive
Cincinnati, OH 45236
513.421.4310
Cincinnati — FBI Website

Federal Bureau of Investigation - Cleveland Field Office
1501 Lakeside Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44114
216.522.1400
Cleveland — FBI Website

National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center
Department of Homeland Security
888.282.0870
[email protected]