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Obama’s cyber security adviser: Russia did not decide US election

The former president’s cyber security adviser expressed confidence that alleged Russian hacking did not determine the outcome of the 2016 US national election.

Interviewed on Wednesday by Israel’s Army Radio, Michael Daniel, who served as former US President Barack Obama’s cyber security adviser, affirmed that alleged Russian hackers were unable to decide last year’s US election. The election results were a genuine expression of the American people’s voting preferences, he stressed.

“I certainly think that the Russians or anyone else — they certainly didn’t change any votes, so that the votes that were cast properly reflect the votes of the American people,” Daniel, president of Cyber Alliance, a global internet security group, stated.

The extent of the alleged Russian involvement prior to the election is currently being probed by the House and Senate Intelligence committees. Alleged ties between Trump’s team and Moscow officials are being examined by the FBI as well.

American security agencies said they had exposed extensive efforts by Russian hackers to obtain information about US voters. These security officials accuse Moscow of being the culprit in the hacking and leaking of emails belonging to the Democratic National Committee.

In June, however, US officials told the Senate committee that the cyber attacks did not determine the outcome of the election.

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Daniel was more ambiguous when it came to Trump’s alleged cooperation with Russia.

“I can’t really comment on that,” he said. “Our system is designed to have a considerable number of checks and balances in it, and the investigation will have to take its course.”

The former Obama security adviser, in Israel this week to attend the Cyber Week Conference in Tel Aviv, praised Israel’s cyber technology capabilities.

“Israel has clearly emerged as one of the experts on cyber security… and as the world goes even more digital, it is going to give you great opportunities,” he stated.

By: Daniel Krygier, World Israel News