VIDEO-Big threat to our nation of an election-night hack says cybersecurity expert

Aaron Josefczyk | Reuters

Voters cast ballots as early absentee voting began ahead of the U.S. presidential election in Cleveland, Ohio, on Oct. 12, 2016.

The biggest threat facing our nation right now could involve election night, she said. "You could have a series of cyberattacks that, lets say on election night, denial-of-service attacks on state election boards and major news outlets that would make it impossible to access returns would cast this sort of uncertainty, distrust, about the election process."

As a leader in the analytics directorate, Medina has vast experience dealing with briefing CEOs and government officials about tech vulnerabilities. Her advice: "Two things I would tell you. First, you got to understand how that person absorbs information. If that person is emotional, you have to brief with some emotional resonance. And second, bad news — you've got to deliver bad news early and often. I think a lot of people when they are briefing their superior, they try to sugarcoat the bad news, and in today's world that's a mistake."

Speaking later on Tuesday from the Net/Net event in New York City, Adam Segal, director of the digital and cyberspace policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations, said concerns about hacks like the ones attributed to the Russians against the DNC and Hillary Clinton campaign chief John Podesta are legitimate.

"They're just enough to create doubt and uncertainty about what you can trust in these incredibly complex systems," Segal said. "I don't think it's very likely they could change the outcome of elections. ... But you can create enough doubt and uncertainty that you can create a level of chaos that we don't really want."