Category Archives: election security

State Department offers up to $10 million in rewards to ID hackers who interfere in election

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The U.S. government is trying to be more proactive in fending off election interference. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday offered up to $10 million in rewards for the identification or location of anyone trying to interfere in elections “through certain illegal cyber activities” at the direction of a foreign government. The offer comes amid ongoing concern about meddling efforts designed to influence the U.S. election scheduled for Nov. 3. U.S. intelligence agencies previously concluded that Russian intelligence agencies interfered in the 2016 election by hacking the Democratic National Committee, then distributing emails meant to undermine Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy. The State Department bounty notes that “persons engaged in certain malicious cyber operations targeting election or campaign infrastructure” may be subject to prosecution under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The federal law prohibits hacking, or unauthorized access to protected computers, making it clear that the reward program […]

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State Department offers $10 million for info on hackers targeting U.S. elections

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As the day of the U.S. presidential elections is quickly approaching, election security is again becoming a topic of more and more security discussions. Are the polling booth systems secure? Could attackers interfere with them? What about voting by mai… Continue reading State Department offers $10 million for info on hackers targeting U.S. elections→

Black Hat 2020: In a Turnaround, Voting Machine Vendor Embraces Ethical Hackers

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Voting machine technology seller Election Systems & Software (ES&S) offered an olive branch to security researchers with new safe harbor terms and vulnerability disclosure policies at Black Hat USA 2020. Continue reading Black Hat 2020: In a Turnaround, Voting Machine Vendor Embraces Ethical Hackers→

Black Hat 2020: Scaling Mail-In Voting Spawns Broad Challenges

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Voting Village security celeb Matt Blaze delves into the logistics of scaling up mail-in voting ahead of November’s election. Continue reading Black Hat 2020: Scaling Mail-In Voting Spawns Broad Challenges→

Black Hat USA 2020 Preview: Election Security, COVID Disinformation and More

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Threatpost editors break down the top themes, speakers and sessions to look out for this year at Black Hat 2020 – from election security to remote work and the pandemic. Continue reading Black Hat USA 2020 Preview: Election Security, COVID Disinformation and More→

Assessing the email security controls used by 10,000 U.S. state and local election administrators

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With fewer than 100 days left until Election Day, a new report from Area 1 Security reveals that states are still in widely varying stages of cybersecurity readiness. Key findings include: The majority (53.24 percent) of state and local election admini… Continue reading Assessing the email security controls used by 10,000 U.S. state and local election administrators→

Dem lawmakers want FBI briefing on foreign interference efforts in 2020 election

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Four senior Democratic lawmakers have asked the FBI to brief all members of Congress on foreign efforts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election, citing an ongoing disinformation campaign. “We are gravely concerned, in particular, that Congress appears to be the target of a concerted foreign interference campaign, which seeks to launder and amplify disinformation in order to influence congressional activity, public debate and the presidential election in November,” wrote Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray last week. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also signed the letter. The four lawmakers did not elaborate on the nature of the foreign interference campaign targeting Congress, but they did include a classified addendum to the letter that draws on the Trump administration’s […]

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Cybersecurity concerns front and center as online voting expected to shape future elections

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Online voting is likely to shape future election cycles, according to a study from OneLogin. 59% of respondents expect online voting will become a reality within five years. Online voting demographics Though various demographics differ in their opinion… Continue reading Cybersecurity concerns front and center as online voting expected to shape future elections→

Biden campaign hires ex-White House official Chris DeRusha as CISO

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Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has turned to a former White House cybersecurity official to protect the campaign’s networks from hackers. Biden’s campaign said Friday it had hired Chris DeRusha, who served as a White House cybersecurity adviser when Biden was vice president, as the campaign’s chief information security officer. DeRusha, who has also held cybersecurity positions with the State of Michigan, the Department of Homeland Security and Ford Motor Co., will be charged with safeguarding the campaign’s digital assets in an election that U.S. officials expect to draw continued foreign interference. The Biden campaign has also hired software engineer Jacky Chang as its chief technology officer. Chang worked as a technologist for the Democratic National Committee and for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. “Biden for President takes cybersecurity seriously and is proud to have hired high quality personnel with a diverse breadth of experience, knowledge and […]

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Senate Democrats push feds to stand up disinformation ‘response center’ ordered in NDAA

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With the presidential election just four months away, 15 Senate Democrats have asked national security agencies to step up their efforts to counter foreign disinformation aimed at undermining the vote. The Trump administration should ensure that political candidates and the public are promptly notified of foreign efforts to interfere in U.S. politics — and set up a congressionally mandated federal office for countering foreign influence, the senators wrote in a letter Friday to the heads of the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, the FBI, the National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. “[W]e urge you to take additional measures to fight influence campaigns aimed at disenfranchising voters, especially voters of color,” wrote the senators, including Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey. After the sweeping Russian effort to interfere in the 2016 elections, U.S. officials have tried to do more to combat foreign […]

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