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Election Officers Face Safety Challenges Earlier than Midterms

By Related Press on July 08, 2022

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Election officers making ready for the upcoming midterms face a myriad of threats, each international and home, as they appear to guard voting programs and run a clean election whereas combating a wave of misinformation that has been undermining public confidence in U.S. elections.

The nation’s prime state election officers gathered Thursday for the beginning of their annual summer time convention, with an extended record of challenges that begins with securing their voting programs. 

Whereas a prime concern heading into the 2020 presidential election was Russia or one other hostile nation waging a disruptive cyberattack, the panorama has expanded to incorporate ransomware, politically motivated hackers and insider threats. Over the past yr, a small variety of safety breaches have been reported at native election workplaces during which authorities are investigating whether or not workplace employees improperly accessed or offered improper entry to delicate voting expertise.

Jen Easterly, who leads the nation’s cybersecurity company, mentioned Russia, China and North Korea stay “very dynamic and complicated cyber threats” and that legal gangs pushing ransomware had been additionally a priority. However she famous election safety officers couldn’t afford to prioritize one over the opposite.

“We are able to’t simply fear about one factor as a result of if we focus too intently on one set of threats, we’re very prone to miss them coming from one other course,” Easterly informed reporters, after a sequence of personal conferences with state election officers.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company has been conducting bodily assessments for state and native election officers, which incorporates web site visits and critiques of safety procedures corresponding to video surveillance and entry controls.

Bodily safety has all the time been a priority however an onslaught of threats since 2020 concentrating on election officers have added urgency to the trouble. State and native election officers have reported being harassed in particular person and receiving dying threats over social media and textual content message. 

“We’re seeing an exodus of individuals within the discipline. And a few of it does relate to only the bodily safety threats that they’re dealing with,” mentioned Kim Wyman, who leads election safety efforts for the cybersecurity company. “And what we’re making an attempt to do with that is give them instruments to have the ability to to take care of that.”

The company has additionally issued steering on how you can mitigate insider threats, which emphasizes the significance of chain of custody guidelines. The steering additionally suggests the usage of bipartisan groups when accessing delicate gear to make sure voting programs are protected.

State election officers have additionally been targeted on boosting cybersecurity defenses on the native degree, the place staffing and sources are sometimes restricted.

In Ohio, Secretary of State Frank LaRose not too long ago introduced a 3rd wave of safety necessities for the state’s county election boards, which incorporates elevated video surveillance for voting gear and extra complete safety critiques of county programs.

“It’s fixed vigilance,” LaRose mentioned Thursday. “The risk is consistently rising. The risk is consistently altering. And so we’re evolving with it and ensuring that our guard is up.”

Election safety grew to become a nationwide focus after the 2016 presidential election, when Russia probed state voter registration programs throughout the nation searching for vulnerabilities.

In response, the Obama administration designated election programs as “vital infrastructure” — on par with the nation’s banks, dams and nuclear energy crops. This freed up sources and funds for election officers, and a concerted effort was made to enhance communications and intelligence sharing between the federal authorities and the states.

However the 2020 presidential election introduced an unprecedented wave of false claims and conspiracy theories surrounding voting gear and election procedures as former President Donald Trump sought to clarify his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Supporters and allies of Trump have been touring throughout the nation for greater than a yr claiming the election was stolen and spreading misinformation that has additional elevated mistrust in U.S. elections.

Federal and state election officers and Trump’s personal lawyer basic have mentioned there is no such thing as a credible proof the election was tainted. The previous president’s allegations of fraud had been additionally roundly rejected by courts, together with by judges Trump appointed.

However the false claims have persevered and have led to suspected safety breaches at native election workplaces a handful of states.

Earlier this yr, the clerk in Mesa County, Colorado, was indicted for a safety breach at her election workplace. Authorities say Clerk Tina Peters allowed unauthorized folks entry to voting gear and an unauthorized copy was manufactured from the county’s voting system that was later posted on-line. Peters has denied any wrongdoing.

In Colorado, Secretary of State Jena Griswold pushed for legislative adjustments this yr to tighten safety measures surrounding voting programs and improve penalties for these making an attempt to entry them.

Associated: Cyber Company: Voting Software program Susceptible in Some States

Associated: Specialists Warn of Risks From Breach of Voter System Software program

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