washington<u+2014>a range of u.s. officials from law enforcement, national security and intelligence agencies are watching for potential threats timed around tuesday<u+2019>s election, chasing a tip about a possible terror plot and trying to guard against cyberattacks that could sow confusion or doubt about the results. u.s. officials have issued a warning to law enforcement agencies about a potential terror attack next week, though investigators are still trying to determine the credibility of the information, according to people familiar with the matter. that internal law enforcement advisory says the federal bureau of investigation is pursuing information that the al qaeda terrorist group could be planning attacks on monday. these people said the areas discussed as possible targets were new york, texas and virginia. investigators are pursuing the tip, and although authorities haven<u+2019>t determined yet how real the threat is, they decided to share the information out of an abundance of caution in the period leading up to election day tuesday, people familiar with the matter said. an fbi spokesman declined to comment directly on the threat, but said authorities are prepared for any potential attack. <u+201c>the counterterrorism and homeland security communities remain vigilant and well-postured to defend against attacks here in the united states,<u+2019><u+2019> he said, adding federal, state and local officials <u+201c>share and assess intelligence on a daily basis and will continue to work closely with law enforcement and intelligence community partners to identify and disrupt any potential threat to public safety.<u+201d> new york mayor bill de blasio said he had been briefed about possible terrorist threats against the city in the days ahead of the presidential election. the threat is <u+201c>very vague,<u+201d> the mayor said, and <u+201c>the level of credibility is not clear.<u+201d> mr. de blasio said the new york police department would have an increased presence ahead of both tuesday<u+2019>s election and the new york city marathon on sunday. separately, department of homeland security officials will have a team of experts stationed on election day at a national cybersecurity center in virginia, working with the fbi, intelligence agencies and state officials to respond to any computer-related irregularities. federal officials are doubtful a computer attack could actually affect the outcome of tuesday<u+2019>s elections, but they are concerned about a potential cyberattack that would aim to cause confusion or uncertainty about the integrity of the voting system. such an attack could be aimed at state election websites that report results, or it could target electrical grids in key areas, affecting the accessibility of polling places. <u+201c>we are very concerned about attempts to cause confusion,<u+201d> a dhs official told reporters friday. dhs and the intelligence community have accused senior russian government leaders of authorizing cyberattacks against the democratic national committee and affiliated groups, saying incidents of hacking and posting emails and other private records were meant to interfere in the u.s. election. some of those stolen records were published by an online entity known as guccifer 2.0, who u.s. officials have alleged is working on behalf of russian spies. guccifer 2.0, in direct message exchanges with the wall street journal, has denied any connection to the russian government. on friday, the entity<u+2019>s twitter account said it would be <u+201c>an independent observer at the u.s. #elections2016,<u+201d> adding, <u+201c>i call on other hackers to monitor the elections from inside the system.<u+201d> <u+2014>mara gay contributed to this article. write to devlin barrett at devlin.barrett@wsj.com and damian paletta at damian.paletta@wsj.com
u.s. officials probing potential pre-election terror threat - wsj
devlin barrett damian paletta