FEC Website Goes Dark Following Reported Cyberattack

WHO:

Reuters - The U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) was the target of a reported hacker attack.

Reuters - An email seen by Reuters described the incident; it did not identify the hacker or hackers.

Newsweek - The FEC confirmed its electronic filing system was offline but did not provide details about the reported attack.

Drudge Report - A headline characterized the incident as a hacker trying to breach a U.S. election website.

WHAT:

Cointelegraph - The FEC reported an “electronic filing system outage.”

Cointelegraph - Crypto PAC spending ahead of the U.S. midterm elections could be obscured by the outage.

Reuters - A hacker attack forced the FEC to temporarily take its filing system offline, blocking groups from submitting reports.

Newsweek - The FEC’s electronic filing system remained offline.

Drudge Report - The headline reported an attempted breach of a U.S. election website.

WHERE:

Reuters - The targeted website belonged to the U.S. Federal Election Commission.

WHEN:

Reuters - The filing system was taken offline at around 10 p.m. ET on Monday.

Newsweek - The system remained offline Tuesday.

WHY:

Cointelegraph - Groups were expected to ramp up spending before the U.S. midterm elections.

Reuters - The filing system was taken offline because of a reported hacker attack.

HOW:

Reuters - The reported attack prompted the FEC to temporarily disable its filing system, preventing groups from submitting reports.

Newsweek - The FEC did not give details about the reported attack.

(UPDATED October 28, 2026 18:00 UTC)

A reported hacker attack forced the Federal Election Commission to take its electronic filing system offline, blocking groups from submitting reports. The FEC confirmed the outage but did not provide details about the attack or identify who was behind it. The disruption could obscure crypto political action committee spending as groups prepare to ramp up spending ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.

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(UPDATED October 28, 2026 13:05 UTC)

A reported hacker attack forced the Federal Election Commission to take its electronic filing system offline, preventing groups from submitting reports. The system remained offline Tuesday. The FEC did not identify who was behind the attack or provide details about it.