The Real Election Cybersecurity Threat

Voting is always a hot topic during an election year, and the global pandemic means voters will utilize voting by mail more than ever. Though there's been some controversy surrounding mail-in voting, there's more of a potential security risk with voting in person. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency protects the country from cyberattacks, including foreign election interference. Learn more about how your vote is protected from external entities.

Who Protects the Polls?

Local governments are in charge of overseeing the protection of their databases and voting machines. William "Bill" Rials, Associate Director of the Information Technology Program at the Tulane School of Professional Advancement, says governments should be acting now to prevent potential interference. Modern voting machines are "reasonably" secure from outside attacks because terminals are not connected to a cloud network during the voting period. He explains that votes cast on the machines are stored locally and don't go through a network transfer until after the polls close. Keeping the data stored locally diminishes the chances of outside interference during voting.

Where Does the Real Threat Lie?

According to Dr. Rials, it's data logs of registered voters that face the most serious risk. Like all databases, county clerk and election commissioner-maintained databases are susceptible to cyber threats. It's challenging to ensure total security when state and local election entities consist of over 6,000 subsections across the country. If cyber-criminals want to disrupt the election process, they'd most likely target voter registration databases to alter voter data. Local government entities should be working with cybersecurity professionals to protect their networks and databases for early voting and Election Day.

Protecting voter information and data stored on the cloud is crucial to our nation's democracy. If you work in IT, a master's degree in Cybersecurity Management from Tulane SoPA can help you further your career and prepare for a role in management. Request more information about our degree programs today.