A former Department of Homeland Security official warned Thursday that foreign adversaries aiming to influence next week’s election and influence the outcome of the presidential race are targeting “every single American” in their efforts.

Suzanne Spaulding, who led the previous agency within DHS that later became the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said countries including Russia and Iran were stepping up their operations because the US election was an existential issue for their position on the world stage.

“We are the target, and Americans should not take that lightly,” said Spaulding, now a senior homeland security policy adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. election security panel at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a national security think tank based in Washington, DC. “(Americans) should demand that policymakers mount a strong response to this activity.”

In the weeks and months leading up to the November 5 presidential election, efforts to disrupt foreign elections have accelerated. These operations were carried out by Russia, Iran and China, and the last two successfully achieved concrete reconciliation. confidential data or communication It is one of two major presidential campaigns deadlocked in national polls.

Meanwhile, Russia also carried out complicated and long term disinformation campaigns According to Convincing Americans to vote for former President Donald Trump intelligence assessments.

Enemies will possibly strengthen Officials warned last week that disinformation campaigns about election results would continue after Nov. 5 and that domestic efforts to incite physical violence could be focused between next month and Inauguration Day in January.

“Americans should be confident about the legitimacy of the (election) process and the security of that process, and that’s an important role that CISA plays,” Spaulding said. “CISA makes clear that Americans need to look to authoritative sources, sources that, in my view, are providing first-hand information about developments,” he said, encouraging Americans to trust local officials who will oversee elections next week.

CISA Director Jen Easterly said Wednesday that the agency “has not seen any evidence of foreign adversaries penetrating our election infrastructure,” a statement consistent with previous public assessments from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.