A Department of State program is offering up to $10 million to help identify bad actors, individuals who are working with or for a foreign government with the purpose of interfering with U.S. elections through certain cyber acts.
“The reward offer seeks information on the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction of or under the control of a foreign government, interferes with any U.S. Federal, state, or local election by aiding or abetting a violation of section 1030 of title 18, which relates to computer fraud and abuse,” according to an August 5 post on the Department of State website.
The Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service is administering the Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, which has been around since 1984 and has paid over $150 million to more than 100 people worldwide since its inception. The program has been used to compensate individuals who have provided actionable information to help prevent terrorism and resolve U.S. national security threats.
The law cited by the department is the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which prohibits unauthorized computers access to obtain and transmit information to unauthorized recipients. “Certain malicious cyber operations targeting election or campaign infrastructure may be subject to prosecution” under the act, the department said.
