The online voting system in Russia suffered denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on 17 September coming from IP addresses registered in the US, Germany, and Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media has stated. The attacks came as both in-person and online general election voting kicked off in Russia.
The ministry said there have been two waves of attacks: the first targeted the election monitoring system and was launched at 8:00 a.m. local time (5:00 GMT), while the second targeted the voting authentication system and was spotted at 10:36 a.m. local time (7:36 GMT).
Over 50% of the mass requests used in the DDoS attacks to take down the online services by overwhelming their capacity to process them, came from US IPs. Over 25% came from German IPs and 5% more from Ukraine. The ministry did not disclose other sources behind the DDoS attacks, but said that they were definitely organised and aimed to thwart the holding of elections in Russia.
"[We] successfully dealt with technically prepared, targeted DDoS attacks. There was no degradation and disruptions in the operation of [voting] services. Users' personal data remained protected", the ministry's statement read.
At the same time, public headquarters for observing elections in Moscow reported that the election monitoring system was suffering small lags due to DDoS attacks, but stressed that they have no effect on the results of the voting and that all ballots are being successfully registered on the blockchain platform.
"We have DDoS attacks at the same time, maybe not very huge, but, nevertheless, frontal", head of the public headquarters for observing elections in Moscow, Alexey Venediktov said.
Russian Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin has ordered a probe into the cyberattacks from abroad on the infrastructure of the Russian electronic voting system.
Online Voting Trials in Russia and Foreign Election Meddling Attempts
Russia is still testing the technology for online voting, with two blockchain-based systems used in trials across six regions and in Moscow. The systems use different encryption and blockchain verification methods, and one of them allows a voter to recast their ballot if they change their choice. According to the Ministry of Digital Development, some 10% of registered online voters have already cast their ballots as of 10:30 GMT.
The 2021 general elections in Russia are being carried out between 17 and 19 September to reduce queues and allow for better social distancing at voting stations amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, prior to them getting underway, the Russian authorities reported election meddling activities on the part of the US and demanded that the country promptly cease them.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador John J. Sullivan to officially object to the meddling attempts and present him with evidence proving it. The ministry also demanded that American online companies respect Russian laws and delete content deemed illegal in the country, including those that might affect the election.