Russian hackers targeted 21 states before 2016 election

Vladimir Putin’s hackers targeted 21 states before the 2016 presidential election, the Department of Homeland Security dramatically revealed Friday.

Wisconsin, a key state in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, said on Friday it was one of the 21 states that the federal government notified were targeted by Russian government hackers but no votes were changed.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed it had notified the 21 states but declined to identify them Friday.

States that told The Associated Press they had been targeted include Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. 

Key state: Wisconsin was won by Donald Trump in one of the key victories of his sweep to the White House. Now it and 20 other states are revealed to have been targeted by Kremlin hacks

Loser: Hillary Clinton, who was close to tears when she finally made her concession speech the day after the election, had not expected to lose Wisconsin

In most cases, they had not known until notified Friday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas said Homeland Security told 21 states that ‘Russian government cyber actors’ targeted their state voter registration systems in 2016.

Homeland Security told Wisconsin that the Russian government ‘scanned internet-connected election infrastructure likely seeking specific vulnerabilities such as access to voter registration databases, but the attempt to exploit vulnerabilities was unsuccessful,’ he said.

Homeland Security told Congress in June that 21 states were targeted during the 2016 presidential race, and that while a small number were breached, there was no evidence any votes were manipulated.