Ride the Lightning

Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.

DHS Informs 21 States That Russian Hackers Targeted Their Election Systems

September 27, 2017

Well, if that's not a scary headline, I don't know what is. SC Media reported that the Department of Homeland Security told 21 states on September 22nd that their election systems had been targeted by hackers representing the Russian government. The states included Oklahoma, Alabama, Colorado, Virginia, Connecticut, Washington, Iowa, Wisconsin, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Ohio.

The states had pressed for confirmation that their systems had indeed been targeted.

"We heard feedback from the secretaries of state that this was an important piece of information," the Washington Post quoted Bob Kolasky, acting DHS deputy undersecretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate, as saying. "We agreed that this information would help election officials make security decisions."

Calling the delay in notification "unacceptable," Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., said in a statement that he was "relieved that DHS has acted upon our numerous requests and is finally informing the top elections officials in all 21 affected states that Russian hackers tried to breach their systems in the run up to the 2016 election."

Pledging that his committee would continue its "bipartisan investigation into what happened in 2016" and "determine what steps we need to take to stop the next attack on our democracy," Warner stressed that "All 50 states need to be proactively strengthening the security of their election systems in the face of this threat."

While DHS did not initially release the names of the states affected, the Associated Press and others have listed the states referenced above as targeted.

Let's hope we get security right by 2018!

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