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Russia’s playbook to interfere in US election

The attacks are being ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin using social media, hacking e-mail account and targeting state election systems.

With three months until mid-term elections, U.S. intelligence heads are warning, the United States is still under attack from Russia, which is targeting the country’s political system.

"This is a threat we need to take extremely seriously,” said FBI Director, Christopher Wray.

Based on the 2016 election, there’s some insight into Russia’s playbook. However, the full extent is still unknown.

The attacks are being ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin using social media, hacking e-mail account and targeting state election systems. This is all part of an effort to manipulate American voters.

RELATED: Donald Trump's team says it is ready to block Russian election meddling this year

“It’s pervasive. It’s ongoing,” said Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats.

Facebook announced this week, it deleted dozens of accounts in what appears to be a sophisticated disinformation campaign, possibly tied to Russia.

Facebook was a tool in the past, Along with Twitter and Google.

Russian trolls and bots used controversial topics to incite political division by spreading fake news and advertisements, eventually shared by millions of Americans.

When it comes to hacking, Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat up for reelection in November recently confirmed, Russian hackers tried to break into her senate computer network.

The e-mail phishing scam targeting Senator McCaskill was reportedly like the hacking of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman in 2016.

It’s also confirmed, Russia had its sights on nearly two dozen state election systems in 2016, by scanning them for vulnerabilities.

Intelligence leaders said there’s no sign of similar activity at this point, but state, that could change

as election day nears.

When questions by reporters Thursday about efforts by the US government to protect elections, Defense Secretary James Mattis said, “I'm not at liberty to explain what we're doing in that regard. Just, rest assured, there are actions underway to protect our -- our elections. We have ongoing efforts, but I'm not going to go into any details right now.”

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