The 2026 U.S. Midterms Election Season, Weakened Defenses: The Cyber Landscape Ahead

The report warns that the 2026 U.S. midterm election environment faces heightened cyber risk as active nation-state operations (Iranian attacks on critical infrastructure, Russian influence campaigns and breaches, and Chinese campaigns) combine with AI-driven disinformation and deepfakes; these threats are amplified by significant cuts and leadership gaps at CISA and other federal election-security bodies, leaving state and local officials to rely on alternative defenses and emphasising phishing/credential theft mitigation, segmentation, and rapid verification workflows.