Category Archives: campaign security

Center for Internet Security looks to expand threat sharing program to political campaigns

Posted on by

While hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money have been put toward securing state election infrastructure this year, political campaigns are often cash-strapped operations short on cybersecurity expertise. “Especially in the early phases of the campaign, it is not staffed by professional IT and certainly not cybersecurity people,” said John Gilligan, the executive chairman of the nonprofit Center for Internet Security (CIS). When a candidate decides to run, the campaign might acquire a few computers and start building databases without prioritizing cybersecurity, Gilligan said Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. CIS, which runs a center for sharing threat data with states and local officials, is looking to extend its information-sharing initiative to those sparsely-run campaigns. The goal is to chip away at the security-resource deficit facing candidates, as numerous tech companies are trying to do by offering free security services to campaigns. The Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing […]

The post Center for Internet Security looks to expand threat sharing program to political campaigns appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading Center for Internet Security looks to expand threat sharing program to political campaigns→

Cylance offers consumer anti-virus product for free until November election

Posted on by

Cybersecurity company Cylance announced on Thursday that it’s making its consumer anti-virus product free until the November election in order to help political organizations protect sensitive data. While the company is primarily positioning the move as a way to protect political campaigns from cyberthreats, the free offer of Cylance Smart Antivirus applies all U.S. residents. The Irvine, California, company joins a number of  others  that have made some programs or services free for the sake of election security. Some offers have focused on state and local election systems, while others are marketed toward candidates and campaigns. People can sign up for Cylance’s offer between now and Nov. 9 — the week of Election Day — and the free service will expire on November 30. The product uses artificial intelligence to monitor a user’s system and detect and block malware. The election security offer covers three devices for free. That’s likely not enough to protect an entire political organization, but […]

The post Cylance offers consumer anti-virus product for free until November election appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading Cylance offers consumer anti-virus product for free until November election→

North Korean hackers came close to hacking Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign

Posted on by

As part of a cyber-espionage operation against Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, North Korean hackers compromised email accounts belonging to individuals involved with an East Asia-focused foreign policy advisory group, multiple people familiar with the incident told CyberScoop.  The North Koreans sought to acquire policy documents and other relevant information that may have affected the regime if Clinton were to become president, the sources said. The advisory group’s job was to craft such policies. The hackers were able to break into the email accounts of employees of at least one prominent D.C.-based think tank; some of which were involved with the East Asia foreign policy advisory group. These individuals occasionally communicated with staff of the Democratic candidate’s official Hillary for America (HFA) campaign, based on an incident response report obtained by CyberScoop and authored by security experts who worked for the presidential campaign. The attackers used their access to apparently draft convincing […]

The post North Korean hackers came close to hacking Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading North Korean hackers came close to hacking Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign→