Dive Brief:

• The federal government and several states are taking extra cybersecurity precautions prior to Tuesday’s presidential election, according to a Reuters report.

• A U.S. Department of Homeland Security official told Reuters that the department helped all but two states evaluate their voter registration and election systems for vulnerabilities.

• Ohio and Arizona both also sought additional assistance.

Dive Insight:

Ohio asked a cyber protection unit of the National Guard for help protecting the state's systems, while Arizona has spoken to both the FBI and DHS about cyberthreats.

Recently, DHS offered to help states after reports surfaced that hackers broke into the Arizona and Illinois voter registration systems earlier this year. The breaches uncovered thus far affected voter registration systems only.

Officials and cybersecurity experts agree it would be difficult for hackers to alter an election's outcome because voting systems are rarely connected to the internet.

However, some want to take election integrity into their own hands. Guccifer 2.0, a well-known hacker, recently called on other hackers to help him monitor for election fraud Tuesday. Though he claims to want to help, Guccifer 2.0, who says he is from Romania, has been leaking anti-Clinton information since June.