Could hackers target electoral systems in 2020?
It’s something that almost everybody is concerned about as we see various political pressures come to bear on an election that’s still over a year away.
Specific concerns center around the use of various types of cyberattacks to distort electoral results or change outcomes.
A CNET article posted Sunday shows there is precedent for hackers to target municipal systems.
Now, professionals are worried that hackers could use ransomware to lock down voter registration databases.
One of the reasons that people are so worried about the voter registration databases is their connection to the global Internet – while voting systems themselves are generally operated off-line, the voter database has specific vulnerabilities that could prove useful to hackers, including ransomware operators.
While there are, as noted, a wide spectrum of hacks making their way around the Internet, the ransomware attack works on a specific principle of locking up systems transparently and demanding ransom. Many hackers using ransomware software demand payment in Bitcoin, since it is in some ways less trackable through conventional banking systems.
In order to guard systems, officials in places like Illinois are closing off their voter registration databases into local area networks instead of opening them to the broader Internet.
This still leaves questions about hackers using flash drive to inject malware and other top security nightmares.
Ransomware attacks would be one of the most blatant assaults on the electoral system, and according to some, it wouldn’t make much sense in that taking on municipal systems will bring the wrath of the Department of Homeland Security and related agencies, not to mention the electorate itself, where private business systems can be exploited in more low-key ways.
Take a look at what people are fearing about electrical systems and how top security teams are working on shoring up security in advance of a 2020 banner election.
