Adrian Fontes on hacking of website, cybersecurity measures

Iranian hackers are presumed to have infiltrated the Arizona Secretary of State’s website in June 2025 and swapped out candidate photos for those of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Secretary’s office called it a “very sophisticated attack.” Officials said the photos were taken down immediately after they were discovered.

Adrian Fontes (D), Arizona’s Secretary of State, joined “Arizona Horizon” to address voter concerns over the hack and to explain his plans to address cybersecurity needs going forward.

The candidate portal has been modified to block future attempts. Other aspects of the website were not affected, such as the statewide voter registration database, the address confidentiality program to protect victims of domestic violence and the E-Qual system, where candidates can collect signatures and receive seed money to qualify for public campaign finance.

Secretary Fontes’ office alerted federal officials when they discovered the breach. Notably absent from the list of contacts was the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). In a statement, Fontes said he had lost confidence in the agency since the Trump Administration took office, and he contended the agency has been “politicized and weakened by the current administration.”