Florida has invested $14.6m in securing its county election offices
Pinellas county supervisor of elections, Julie Marcus, instructed ABC Action Information it is putting methods into detecting, monitoring and responding to cyber-threats, following it was determined by the Mueller investigation that, in 2016, the Russian armed service intelligence company sent spear-phishing e-mail to around 120 email accounts made use of by Florida county officials.
This led to two Florida counties getting attacked, but point out officials did not reveal which. Male Garrett, assistant director of College of West Florida’s Center for Cybersecurity, which helped condition election officers establish and fix vulnerabilities, claimed “what the negative men were just after at that issue was truly the voter databases. Fortuitously, we had been capable to get dollars by grants in the legislature to address individuals challenges.”
This led to the $14.6m investment in Florida’s 67 counties, although election supervisors were expected to signal confidentiality agreements with regards to precisely how that dollars would be used.
Marcus reported the tabulation procedure, which counts votes, are not able to be hacked as the process is unconnected to the internet, “and it’s shielded less than several levels of security.”
Jake Moore, cybersecurity expert at ESET, explained: “I would be extremely stunned if we go by means of the election devoid of a security or technological hitch. Even if the process can cope with the deluge of data all on a person working day, there will be a number of tries to knock it in excess of to even solid the smallest of question on the outcome.
“At minimum Florida has learned from its earlier issues which are unable to be claimed for all corporations right after an attack. Proactive protection works as a considerably greater coverage and there is no room for error with this election which will unquestionably be targeted with an array of diverse attacks hunting for the weakest links.”
Some parts of this article are sourced from:
www.infosecurity-magazine.com