Hackers have breached databases for voter registration systems in IL and Arizona, according to state election and law enforcement officials.
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While the answer to that question remains maybe news has emerged that voting systems in two states have actually been hacked, including one instance of voting registration data being stolen.
The hack on the voter registration database of IL was successful, prompting the state to shut down the registration of voters in July after the 200,000 records were downloaded. The database is comprised of records for 15 million individuals and is 10 years old. Not all outdated information has been purged, according to Menzel, so some of those records likely include information for deceased voters or those who have subsequently moved.
The department became concerned “after hackers successfully infiltrated one state board of election and targeted another” in IL and Arizona.
The FBI described the attack as taking the form of an SQL injection that allowed the hackers to steal 200,000 voter records from the IL board of elections.
“We see attacks literally every day, but it’s not necessarily against voter registration information”, he said. “Counting systems typically are not online, whereas the registration system is created to be online in many states”, said Verified Voting’s Smith.
A county worker had downloaded a piece of malware that exposed their access credential and password, which then wound up online, Roberts said. “The hacker apparently was a known entity to law enforcement”, a spokesman for the Arizona secretary of state told the Wall Street Journal. He pledged help for state officials in securing their systems, including having the DHS send specially trained staff to help.
The hacks, at least one of which is believed to be carried out by Russians, led both states to shut down their systems for a week.
The FBI’s August 18 warning also came just days after Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson hosted a call with secretaries of state and other state election officials to talk about cybersecurity and election infrastructure.
The attack on their election databases drove Arizona and IL election officials to shut down their systems for about a week. The Aug. 18, 2016, warning came just days after Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson hosted a call with secretaries of state and other state elections officials to talk about cybersecurity and the election infrastructure. States have resisted those moves.
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The information comes from the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), which monitors cyber attacks against state and local governments and shares information with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
