Ahead of Election Day, authorities on the lookout for misinformation, disinformation and hacks

The state's Homeland Security Office is on the lookout for disinformation ahead of Election Day, with bad information that could come from hostile governments or domestic extremists.

News 12 Staff

Oct 28, 2020, 3:07 PM

Updated 1,447 days ago

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The state's Homeland Security Office is on the lookout for disinformation ahead of Election Day, with bad information that could come from hostile governments or domestic extremists.
The warning came that foreign governments could be working to spread the misinformation, as well as extremist groups using post-election chaos to target the police.
Jared Maples is the director of the state's Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. As Election Day nears, he and his office are on the lookout for misinformation, disinformation and hacks aimed at disrupting voting and cause questions about the results.
The FBI warned last week that Russian operatives may have obtained voter data and Iran could be behind emails targeting Democrats. Maples says there is no direct evidence or ties that New Jersey citizens were targeted, but domestic extremist groups could also be working to spread mistrust.
"We've talked extensively in our reporting about the white supremacy and the violent threat that they pose to our state, and the country, also some of the far left the antigovernment movements and some of those actions you're seeing whether you want to call them Antifa or the antigovernment chaos driving entities that are out there, we're seeing misinformation from them as well," says Maples.
An elongated or disputed election could mean the groups fight each other and who they see as a common enemy: the police and law enforcement.
Homeland Security wants people to treat disinformation as “see something, say something", and if you do, contact 1-866-4-SAFE-NJ.