FBI Director James Comey speaks Tuesday during a government symposium on cyber security in Washington, D.C. | Getty Comey: FBI takes election tampering 'very seriously'

One day after reports the FBI had warned states of potential hacks on their election systems, Director James Comey declined to address the bureau's investigation, simply insisting he takes the mat ter "very seriously."

The FBI alert — sent Aug. 18 and revealed publicly on Monday — sparked fears that recent cyberattacks on voter databases in Illinois and Arizona were harbingers of a nationwide hacking assault on state voting systems, possibly linked to Russia.


"It won’t surprise you that I’m not going to give an answer that touches on any particular matter we’re looking at," Comey said Tuesday at a conference hosted by digital security firm Symantec.

Multiple security researchers and former FBI officials said the bureau's alert showed signs that investigators may suspect a government-backed hack. Many worried that meant the intrusions were part of a suspected Russian attempt to meddle in the U.S. election.

Moscow-backed hackers have already been blamed for leaking embarrassing documents and emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton have alleged the efforts are part of a Kremlin plot to install GOP rival Donald Trump in the White House.

"Maybe I can say this," Comey said. "We take very seriously any effort by any actor , including nation - states, and maybe especially nation - states, that moves beyond the collection of information about our country and that offers the prospect of an effort to influence the conduct of affairs in our country."

Election security specialists say hackers with access to voter rolls could alter vote totals by removing people from the registration list.

"Whether that’s an election or something else ," those kinds of hackers are "something we take very, very seriously , and we very work very hard to understand so that we can equip the rest of our government for options on how to deal with it," Comey added.