Check Point – 2026 U.S. Election Threat Outlook: “The 2026 U.S. midterm election cycle is expected to drive elevated cyber threat activity across the broader election ecosystem, including political organizations, fundraising and media platforms, government services, campaign personnel, and the providers that support them. Current intelligence and reporting indicate that the most likely 2026 election-related threats involve phishing, impersonation, influence activity, AI-enabled content abuse, and opportunistic disruption. In practice, the most immediate operational risks are concentrated in the accounts, platforms, and services that campaigns and election-adjacent organizations rely on to communicate, raise funds, publish information, and maintain public trust. The current threat environment favors operations that are inexpensive, scalable, and capable of producing outsized political or psychological impact. The most consequential risks center on identity, access, trust, and narrative control. Phishing, brand impersonation, manipulated media, coordinated misinformation, and abuse of third parties can all create confusion, reputational harm, and operational disruption without requiring direct compromise of core election infrastructure. Check Point Exposure Management identified sustained election-related infrastructure creation throughout early 2026. Continued registration of election-themed domains expanded the available infrastructure that may later support phishing, impersonation, fraudulent donation activity, misinformation, or abuse of election-related brands and services. Credential exposure remained elevated across major political fundraising platforms and government-related assets, while election-related data and claims of voter-data exposure appeared on criminal forums, reinforcing continued interest in trusted platforms, public-sector data, and election-related information.”