Arek Sarkissian

arek.sarkissian@naplesnews.com; 850-559-7620

TALLAHASSEE — The FBI hosted a secret emergency teleconference with Florida county election officials Friday to discuss system security, saying it had discovered suspicious activity in the state.

The FBI held the call with the state’s 67 county supervisors of elections as federal officials help address systems in more than 20 states targeted by hackers in recent months. The supervisors were asked not to discuss the call with the media.

An official on the call who asked not to be identified because the official was not authorized to discuss details said the officials were told about a “malicious” incident in the state. The official said none of the county election systems had been hacked.

The FBI issued a statement Friday about the call, which also included officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"Today the FBI and DHS hosted a conference call with Florida state officials to address questions regarding the security of election systems and to share information regarding the general nature of the cyber threat. FBI and DHS continue to work closely with state officials to assist them in safeguarding their election infrastructures," the statement read.

Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho said the supervisors were told no systems were compromised.

“I’m not aware of any vulnerability to the state of Florida at this point myself,” Sancho said. “This is the kind of good preparatory work that should have occurred, and I’m glad it’s being looked at now. Additional action is going to be taken. I’m very pleased that the state and federal government are acting in a proactive manner in this matter.”

Florida Department of State spokeswoman Meredith Beatrice said the FBI call was only for informational purposes and that none of the county elections sites had been breached.

“I can tell you that after the call, we had nothing to indicate there was a problem in this state,” Beatrice said, referring all questions to the FBI.

Beatrice also released a statement that her office is in constant contact with county elections offices and federal authorities to assure voting systems are not harmed.

“As we near the general election, Secretary of State Ken Detzner and the Department of State are in regular contact with all of our federal and state partners as it relates to elections security,” Beatrice wrote in the statement. “We currently have no indication of a Florida-specific issue.”

The FBI last month warned state elections officials about hackers targeting voting systems in Illinois and Arizona.

FBI Director James Comey also told lawmakers this week that his agency was investigating whether Russian hackers were involved, according to an Associated Press report.

The AP also reported it was unclear who the hackers are, but more than 20 states were targeted.

The FBI call came about a week after Florida's elections supervisors began the state's Vote by Mail period.

Tallahassee Democrat reporter Jeff Burlew and The Associated Press contributed to this article.