US offers $10 million reward for foreign hackers meddling in US elections

The US Department of State announced today rewards of up to $10 million for any information leading to the identification of foreign state-sponsored hackers targeting US elections and their infrastructure.

This includes attacks against US election officials, US election web IT infrastructure, but also candidates and their staff.

The announcementwas made today, less than 100 days, until the US 2020 Presidential Election that has incumbent Donald Trump pitted against Democrat candidate Joe Biden.

Nevertheless, the Department of State said the reward is valid for any form of election hacking, at any level, such as elections held at the federal, state, or local level as well.

"Foreign adversaries could employ malicious cyber operations targeting election infrastructure, including voter registration databases and voting machines, to impair an election in the United States," the State Department said today, describing the attacks it fears and wants to stop.

"Such adversaries could also conduct malicious cyber operations against U.S. political organizations or campaigns to steal confidential information and then leak that information as part of influence operations to undermine political organizations or candidates."

The intent is to catch and prosecute any foreign state-sponsored hackers, the Department of State said, describing the ability of foreign state-sponsored hackers to meddle in US elections "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

The rewardwill be paid through Department of State's "Rewards for Justice" program, and it only applies to clues about the activities of hackers associated with foreign governments that may try to meddle in the US election process -- and not just any hackers.

This is the third major reward offered for information on hackers through the Rewards for Justice program. In April, State officials offereda $5 million rewardfor information leading to the identification and capture of North Korean government hackers. US officials found North Korean hackers responsible for a large number of cyber-attacks focused on financial gain in recent years, most outside the normal spectrum of intelligence gathering that's quietly accepted by most countries.

In addition, in July, the State Department also offered its second major rewards for foreign hackers when it offeredtwo separate $1 million rewardsfor information on two Ukrainian hackers linked to a breach at the US Security and Exchange Commission in 2016.