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Attempted Russian Hack Targets Ohio Sec. of State on Election Day

Gov. Mike DeWine signing bill
Andy Chow
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
Secretary of State Frank LaRose is with Gov. Mike DeWine as he signs a bill that creates the Ohio Cyber Reserve.

The Ohio Secretary of State says his office fought off an attempted hack on this past Election Day. After further investigation, the attempt to get into the office's system was traced back to a company in Russia. 

Sec. of State Frank LaRose’s office says there was what they call an "unsophisticated and unsuccessful" attempt to insert code to the office's website on Election Day earlier this month.

They say the threat originated from a computer in Panama and the Internet Protocol address appears to be registered to a Russian-owned company.

LaRose recently worked with the legislature to create the Ohio Cyber Reserve, a team of volunteers that would be trained to handle potential cyber-attacks on the government, infrastructure, or businesses.

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.