'Highly volatile' threat landscape for November elections, new assessment finds

Voters head to the polls this fall amid the "highest levels of political violence in the U.S. since the 1970s," and "rising domestic tensions," according to a new threat assessment, warning that those protecting the political process should be on high alert. Despite being a so-called "off-year" for elections, officials need to be on guard, said the bulletin from the Center for Internet Security (CIS), a nonprofit focused on cybersecurity that partners with government and law enforcement. Particularly when "high-profile" races or controversial issues are on the line, election infrastructure becomes an even more attractive target, according to the bulletin. "Physical and disruptive threat-related activity will increase if specific races or ballot measures gain widespread contentious public a