Cross-posted at Election Security Daily. Check us out and sign up for a free newsletter.
July 26, 2019
We Might Get Fooled Again
One of the more worrisome things about election security is that there simply are so many ways that malicious actors can attack. Consider this comment Alex Stamos, the Director of the Sanford Internet Observatory, made to NPR.
“The other big question is, how quickly can the companies react to a totally different type of attack against the election? The thing that I’m really afraid of is less about the Russians supporting one candidate or another. I’m more worried about them trying to convince half the country that the election was stolen. While it would be difficult to hack an entire national election, it would be almost trivial to cause complete chaos on the day of the election and to create an information environment in which half the country believes that they didn’t lose fair and square, that they lost because a foreign adversary hacked voting machines, hacked tabulation systems. I don’t see the evidence that tech companies and the government are able to work together in a way to deal with that.”
Election Announcements Also Under Threat
Krebs on Security posted a story about another nascent threat: Spreading false election poll information on social media. Krebs cited a report from San Mateo County, CA, on the potential disruption:
“Imagine that a hacker hijacks one of the County’s official social media accounts and uses it to report false results on election night and that local news outlets then redistribute those fraudulent election results to the public,’ the report reads.” –Check out the story at Krebs on Security and/or “Security of Election Announcements,”
Joe Scarborough Not Pleased with “Moscow” Mitch McConnell
“Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough excoriated Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this morning. A sample quote: “He is aiding and abetting Vladimir Putin’s ongoing attempts to subvert American democracy according to the Republican FBI, CIA, DNI [and] Intel Committee directors. All Republicans. [They are] all saying Russia is subverting American democracy and Moscow Mitch won’t even let the Senate take a vote on [election security legislation]. That’s un-American.”
Scarborough questioned whether the key to McConnell’s affection for Putin is related to a Russian aluminum plant that may be built in Kentucky and mentioned McConnell’s previous nickname, “Cocaine Mitch.”
Check out the segment:
Senate Report Released
The Senate has released a redacted version of the first volume of the Joint Intelligence Committee’s report on Russian interference. There are ten conclusions, ranging from acknowledgment of Russian initiatives to a recitation of progress being made by various entities in protecting infrastructure.
Overall, the news is not encouraging. This is how The New York Times led off its story on the report: “The Senate Intelligence Committee concluded Thursday that election systems in all 50 states were targeted by Russia in 2016, an effort more far-reaching than previously acknowledged and one largely undetected by the states and federal officials at the time.”
Download the report here.
What Are the Candidates Saying?
NPR has an interesting story on where the candidates stand on election security issues. The bottom line is that Amy Klobuchar is seen as the leading voice, followed by Elizabeth Warren. The other candidates haven’t dedicated a lot of attention to the topic.
The attention candidates pay no doubt will be at least somewhat dependent on public opinion. Last month, an AP-NORC Poll, 52 percent of voters said they are “extremely/very concerned” about the issue, according to the story. It seems likely that percentage will rise, if for no other reason than the amount of attention the topic is getting as the trifecta of events — Robert Mueller’s warnings, Mitch McConnell’s bill blocking and the Senate report — roil the waters.
From the story:
“Despite the large size of the primary field, few candidates have prioritized election security. Roughly half of the candidates running have addressed the topic in their official platforms while the rest have, so far, mostly left it out.
“The majority of the candidates are running on several shared policies — upgrading voting machinery, switching to paper ballot voting instead of electronic submissions and increasing investment in strengthening U.S. cybersecurity.”