Hillsborough Cyberattack Investigated; No Voter Registration, Ballot Systems Were Accessed

TAMPA, FL — Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer said county, state and federal officials are investigating a cyberattack on the county's voter registration system.

Latimer said his office was alerted when an unauthorized user accessed files on a shared drive on the elections office's computer network. He said his office immediately notified the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI, the Center for Internet Security, the Florida Department of State and the cybersecurity division of Hillsborough County's Information and Innovation Office.

"It's my intent to provide the public with as much information as possible without compromising the integrity of the investigation," Latimer said. "As someone who spent 35 years in law enforcement, I take all criminal activity seriously, and I consider an intrusion into an elections office an extremely serious offense."

Latimer said the unauthorized user did not gain access to the county's voter registration system or ballot tabulation system.

"Our voter registration system has multiple layers of protection, monitoring and redundancy. Our tabulation system does, too, and uses a standalone, air-gapped server that is not connected to anything else," he said. "That server has not been compromised in any way."

Latimer said his office has made this breach its top priority, and will provide more information when the investigation concludes.

"Elections are critical infrastructure, and any attack on our office — even one that does not interfere with the conduct of an election — is an attack on our community and our democracy," he said.