EXCLUSIVE: US intel leader warns Americans ‘more aggressive’ coronavirus disinformation coming

Says government needs to do ‘much better job’ to prevent citizens from being duped

Says government needs to do ‘much better job’ to prevent citizens from being duped

all the way up to Cove it and threw everything we're seeing in the West Coast, uh, to the forest fires. You name the issue. Our adversaries. We use it as a driving a wedge in our country. Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center Bill Evan Nina met with us this week for a pair of interviews. It's a rare opportunity to question the man leading the election security effort at America's intelligence community about how disinformation on the candidates and the coronavirus pandemic could affect the vote. Axios is reporting today that misinformation about President Trump's coronavirus diagnosis has quote swarmed social media and the broader Web with bogus claims that the president's faking it. That it's a plot that mass don't work. China engineer the virus, etcetera. Do you believe that misinformation disinformation about the president's Kobe 19 diagnosis is a national security threat? Mm, I wouldn't go so say far as to say it's a national security threat, but it does impact the elections, and it does have impact of American ethos because we see all three nation state threat actors have already been playing in this covert world since March. This only exacerbates their ability to do so at scale. And we do expect that we have seen it will continue to Seymour aggressive activity from our adversaries on the president with respect to his covert situation. So that is a problem for us on our security level. What does that mean? That you expect to Seymour aggressive steps? I think it's an open wound for our adversaries to utilize open wound that in some cases, Americans created for themselves. The First Amendment is amazing thing, probably one the most, uh, effective and enduring documents ever written. It's our biggest vulnerability. You're saying that Americans aren't aware of how easily they can be duped. They're not. And I think the government need to do much better. Job of explaining what that looks like and feels like when they see it and we're not there yet. Mark, do I hear you saying that you do expect Mawr foreign influence operations around Kobe 19 in the coming months? Oh, absolutely. There's a lot to exploit a new study from Cornell University. Look at 38 million articles to find out who's propelling false coronavirus material. The data showed the largest driver of Kobe, 19 misinformation in the world, President Donald Trump in Washington. I'm chief national investigative correspondent Mark Albert

EXCLUSIVE: US intel leader warns Americans ‘more aggressive’ coronavirus disinformation coming

Says government needs to do ‘much better job’ to prevent citizens from being duped

The senior official coordinating election security intelligence across the United States government warned in a rare interview that “more aggressive activity” to spread coronavirus disinformation is expected before the Nov. 3 election – and beyond – and acknowledged the government needs to do a “much better job” to protect Americans from being fooled.The director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, Bill Evanina, told the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit in a more than hour-long interview this week he “absolutely” expects more foreign influence operations targeting American audiences with false information about COVID-19, the pandemic and President Donald Trump’s infection with the virus. ‘More aggressive activity’ to come“We do expect, and we have seen – we’ll continue to see more aggressive activity from our adversaries on the president with respect to his COVID situation. So that is a problem for us on a national security level,” he said.Evanina is leading the election security effort for all U.S. intelligence agencies and says the coronavirus and the president’s infection have handed America’s adversaries – particularly Russia, China, and Iran – another way to divide the country.“It does impact the elections and it does have impact of our American ethos because we see all three nation-state threat actors have already been playing in this COVID world since March. This only exacerbates their ability to do so at scale,” he said.“You name the issue, our adversaries will use it as a driving wedge in our country.” READ: full transcript of two interviews with Bill Evanina An ‘open wound’Evanina, a veteran of the CIA and FBI, has issued two public statements about Russia, China, and Iran interfering in America’s election. This week, in his interview with Hearst Television, Evanina said Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Cuba and Turkey are seeking to influence votes in the United States, as well. Evanina says intelligence shows adversaries are using social media posts and statements from Americans right back against them. “I think it's an open wound for our adversaries to utilize,” he said.“The First Amendment is an amazing thing. Probably one the most effective and enduring documents ever written. It's our biggest vulnerability” because Americans are not always aware of how easily they can be duped. “They're not. And I think the government needs do a much better job of explaining what that looks like and feels like when they see it. And we're not there yet… We're not there yet,” Evanina said.Study: Trump biggest ‘driver’ of COVID misinformation There's a lot to exploit. A new study from Cornell University looked at 38 million articles to find out who's propelling false coronavirus material. The data, researchers found, showed "the largest driver" of COVID-19 misinformation in the world was President Trump. WATCH: Full interview with Bill Evanina, conducted Tuesday, Oct 7, 2020.Mark Albert is the chief national investigative correspondent for the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit, based in Washington D.C. April Chunko, David Postovit, Travis Sherwin, Nina Lee & Kevin Rothstein contributed to this report. Know of election security threats? Have a confidential tip or inside information? Send information and documents to the National Investigative Unit at investigate@hearst.com.WATCH THE HEARST TELEVISION NATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT'S ONGOING SERIES ON ELECTION SECURITY:-Pt 1: Gaps in Preparedness-Pt 2: White House Response-Pt 3: Voting Vulnerabilities >San Francisco Chronicle (print) version>DIGITAL EXTRA: Kid Hackers-Pt 4: Cyber Combat-Pt 5: Election Security Summit (Day 1; Day 2)-Pt. 6: Troll Hunters-SPECIAL: Election Security 30-minute Special-Pt. 7: Paper Ballots-Pt. 8: Lack of Funds-Pt. 9: Operation Blackout -Pt. 10: Digital Disinformation-Pt. 11: Voting App Hack-Pt. 12: Deleting the Deception-Pt. 13: Spotting the Spin-Pt. 14: 2020 Election Summit-Pt. 15: Election Exposure-Pt. 16: Election Exposure Checkup-Pt. 17: Return to Sender-Pt. 18: Inside the Intelligence

WASHINGTON —

The director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, Bill Evanina, told the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit in a more than hour-long interview this week he “absolutely” expects more foreign influence operations targeting American audiences with false information about COVID-19, the pandemic and President Donald Trump’s infection with the virus.

Hearst Television

Bill Evanina, who leads the election security efforts for America’s intelligence agencies, grants a rare interview to Chief National Investigative Correspondent Mark Albert.

‘More aggressive activity’ to come

“We do expect, and we have seen – we’ll continue to see more aggressive activity from our adversaries on the president with respect to his COVID situation. So that is a problem for us on a national security level,” he said.

Evanina is leading the election security effort for all U.S. intelligence agencies and says the coronavirus and the president’s infection have handed America’s adversaries – particularly Russia, China, and Iran – another way to divide the country.

“It does impact the elections and it does have impact of our American ethos because we see all three nation-state threat actors have already been playing in this COVID world since March. This only exacerbates their ability to do so at scale,” he said.

“You name the issue, our adversaries will use it as a driving wedge in our country.”

READ: full transcript of two interviews with Bill Evanina

Hearst Television

National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director Bill Evanina is interviewed by Chief National Investigative Correspondent Mark Albert on Oct. 6, 2020 at the Kiplinger Research Library at the D.C. History Center.

An ‘open wound’

Evanina, a veteran of the CIA and FBI, has issued two public statements about Russia, China, and Iran interfering in America’s election. This week, in his interview with Hearst Television, Evanina said Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Cuba and Turkey are seeking to influence votes in the United States, as well. Evanina says intelligence shows adversaries are using social media posts and statements from Americans right back against them. “I think it's an open wound for our adversaries to utilize,” he said.

“The First Amendment is an amazing thing. Probably one the most effective and enduring documents ever written. It's our biggest vulnerability” because Americans are not always aware of how easily they can be duped.

“They're not. And I think the government needs do a much better job of explaining what that looks like and feels like when they see it. And we're not there yet… We're not there yet,” Evanina said.

Hearst Television

Chief National Investigative Correspondent Mark Albert interviews National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director Bill Evanina.

Study: Trump biggest ‘driver’ of COVID misinformation

There's a lot to exploit.

A new study from Cornell University looked at 38 million articles to find out who's propelling false coronavirus material.

The data, researchers found, showed "the largest driver" of COVID-19 misinformation in the world was President Trump.

HTV

Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, Bill Evanina, is responsible for briefing top lawmakers in Congress, the national parties, and the presidential campaigns about threats to the U.S. election on Nov. 3.

WATCH: Full interview with Bill Evanina, conducted Tuesday, Oct 7, 2020.

Mark Albert is the chief national investigative correspondent for the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit, based in Washington D.C. April Chunko, David Postovit, Travis Sherwin, Nina Lee & Kevin Rothstein contributed to this report.

Know of election security threats? Have a confidential tip or inside information? Send information and documents to the National Investigative Unit at investigate@hearst.com.

WATCH THE HEARST TELEVISION NATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT'S ONGOING SERIES ON ELECTION SECURITY:

-Pt 1: Gaps in Preparedness
-Pt 2: White House Response
-Pt 3: Voting Vulnerabilities

>San Francisco Chronicle (print) version

>DIGITAL EXTRA: Kid Hackers
-Pt 4: Cyber Combat

-Pt 5: Election Security Summit (Day 1; Day 2)

-Pt. 6: Troll Hunters

-SPECIAL: Election Security 30-minute Special

-Pt. 7: Paper Ballots

-Pt. 8: Lack of Funds

-Pt. 9: Operation Blackout

-Pt. 10: Digital Disinformation

-Pt. 11: Voting App Hack