Tag: 2020 election

Episode 194: What Happened To All The Election Hacks?

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Today marks two weeks since Election Day 2020 in the U.S., when tens of millions went to the polls on top of the tens of millions who had voted early or by mail in the weeks leading up to November 3.

The whole affair was expected to be a hot mess of suffrage, what with a closely divided public and access to the world’s most powerful office hung on the outcome of voting in a few, key districts sprinkled across a handful of states. Election attacks seemed a foregone conclusion.

Election Attack, Anyone?

Memories of the 2016 Presidential contest are still fresh in the minds of U.S. voters. During that contest, stealthy disinformation operations linked to Russia’s Internet Research Agency are believed to have swayed the vote in a few, key states, helping to hand the election to GOP upstart Donald Trump by a few thousands of votes spread across four states.

Listen: Russian Hacking and the Future of Cyber Conflict

Adam Meyers CrowdStrike
Adam Meyers is the Vice President of Threat intelligence at the firm Crowdstrike.

In 2020, with social media networks like Facebook more powerful than ever and the geopolitical fortunes of global powers like China and Russia hanging in the balance, it was a foregone conclusion that this year’s U.S. election would see one or more cyber incidents grab headlines and – just maybe- play a part in the final outcome.  

But two weeks and more than 140 million votes later, wild conspiracy theories about vote tampering are rampant in right wing media. But predictions of cyber attacks on the U.S. presidential election have fallen flat.

From Russia with…Indifference?

So what happened? Did Russia, China and Iran decide to sit this one our, or were planned attacks stopped in their tracks? And what about the expected plague of ransomware? Did budget and talent constrained local governments manage to do just enough right to keep cyber criminals and nation state actors at bay? 

Allan Liska is a Threat Intelligence Analyst at the firm Recorded Future,

To find out we invited two experts who have been following election security closely into the Security Ledger studios to talk.

Allan Liska is a Threat Intelligence Analyst at the firm Recorded Future, which has been monitoring the cyber underground for threats to elections systems.

Joining Allan is a frequent Security Ledger podcast guest: Adam Meyers the Senior Vice President of Threat Intelligence at the firm Crowdstrike back into the studio as well. Crowdstrike investigated the 2016 attack on the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and closely monitors a wide range of cyber criminal and nation state groups that have been linked to attacks on campaigns and elections infrastructure. 

To start out I asked both guests – given the anticipation of hacks targeting the US election – what happened – or didn’t happen – in 2020. 

As always,  you can check our full conversation in our latest Security Ledger podcast at Blubrry. You can also listen to it on iTunes and check us out on SoundCloud, Stitcher, Radio Public and more. Also: if you enjoy this podcast, consider signing up to receive it in your email. Just point your web browser to securityledger.com/subscribe to get notified whenever a new podcast is posted. 

Episode 192: It’s Showtime! Are Local Governments Ready To Turn Back Election Hacks?

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The 2020 election in the U.S. is less than a week away and warnings about cyber threats to the vote are coming out with about the regularity as polls of the presidential contest between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. 

Public Sector Mega-Vendor Tyler Technologies Says It Was Hacked

On October 9, for example, the FBI and DHS warned that so called “Advanced Threat” actors were chaining together multiple vulnerabilities in an attempt to compromise federal, state and local government networks and elections organizations.

Rob Bathurst is the Chief Technology Officer at Digitalware.

Also this month, an outbreak of the Dopplepaymer ransomware affected elections infrastructure in Hall County, Georgia, disabling a database used to verify voter signatures in the authentication of absentee ballots. 

Which leads us to ask: despite years of warnings, are state and local governments ready for what Russia, Iran or any number of ransomware gangs have in store for them? 

To help answer that question, we invited Rob Bathurst into the studio. Rob is the Chief Technology Officer at Digitalware, a Denver area company that specializes in risk analysis  and risk management with Federal, state and local government and F500 companies. 

Episode 96: State Elections Officials on Front Line against Russian Hackers

In this conversation, Rob and I talk about what the biggest cyber risks are to state and local governments and how worried we should be about warnings about cyber threats to elections systems are. 

Vulnerabilities are just a reality in government networks, Rob says. The key is to avoid being surprised by attacks and also to ensure that you can keep voting systems and other critical systems available even if they are the target of an attack. 

Episode 175: Campaign Security lags. Also: securing Digital Identities in the age of the DeepFake

In this conversation, Rob  and I talk about the bigger picture of cyber risk for federal state and local governments. We also talk about incidents like the recent hack of government ERP provider Tyler Technologies. 

Rob Bathurst is the Chief Technology Officer at the firm Digitalware. he was here talking to us about cyber risks in local governments and the risk to elections systems. 

As Election Day Nears, Kremlin Leans on Hackers-for-Hire

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Keyboard to the internet

The DOJ indicted a Russian national for his role in “Project Lakhta,” a campaign to undermine the U.S. election…and mine some cryptocurrency along the way. It is the latest evidence of Russia’s willingness to use cyber criminals to conduct state-sponsored espionage.

A global pandemic, mass social unrest, economic crisis, and a divisive presidential election: there is no better time for Russia to be chumming the waters for political mayhem. And, if a newly released indictment is any indication, that’s exactly what experts say is happening.

With a little over fifty days until election day, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday charged Artem Mikhaylovich Lifshits, a Russian national, for his alleged role in a conspiracy to use the stolen identities of U.S. persons to open fraudulent accounts at banking and cryptocurrency exchanges.

Report: China, Like Russia, Uses Social Media to Sway U.S. Public Opinion

Lifshits was a part of “Project Lakhta,” a Russia-based campaign of political and electoral interference operations that dates to 2014. The project encompasses a range of activities including the Internet Research Agency (IRA), which gained notoriety for disinformation campaigns around the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Project Lakhta Endures

According to the court document, Project Lakhta’s stated goal is to “disrupt the democratic process and spread distrust towards candidates for political office and the political system in genera disrupt the democratic process and spread distrust towards candidates for political office and the political system in general.”

Feds, Facebook Join Forces to Prevent Mid-Term Election Fraud

Lifshits worked as a manager of The Translator Department, which directed Project Lakhta’s influence operations – operations that are still ongoing, according to G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

“This case demonstrates that federal law enforcement will work aggressively to investigate and hold accountable cyber criminals located in Russia and other countries, which serve as safe-havens for this type of criminal activity,” Terwilliger said in a statement.

“Lifshits participated in this fraud in order to further Project Lakhta’s malign influence goals and for his own personal enrichment,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers in a statement.

As Cybercrooks Specialize, More Snooping, Less Smash and Grab

Lifshits is just the latest Russian national indicted for crimes linked to foreign interference in U.S. domestic politics. Thirteen members of the Internet Research Agency were indicted in 2018 for influence campaigns as part of Robert Meuller’s probe into Russian activities in the 2016 election. Given Russia doesn’t extradite its citizens to the US, legal maneuvers do little to stamp out the work of hackers like Lifshits, a 27-year-old living in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Russia Taps Hackers-for-Hire

Lifshits’ mixture of financial fraud and political influence allegations are characteristic of Russian cyber operations, the authorities said.

“This case provides a clear illustration of how these malicious actors fund their covert foreign influence activities and Russia’s status as a safe-haven for cyber criminals who enrich themselves at others expense,” said Assistant AG Demers.

Earlier this year, Facebook identified Russian campaigns linked to cyber criminal groups in Nigeria and Ghana. Within Russia, robust black markets for info-ops exist in which operators are driven by financial incentives, according to research by firm Recorded Future.

The issue expands beyond Russia. Even beyond the “big-four” (Russia, China, Iran, North Korea), nations in the Middle East, Asia, and South America are showing evidence that hacker-for-hire groups are on the rise.

While attribution of these campaigns to electoral outcomes is difficult if not impossible, Project Lakhta’s work demands to be taken seriously. Microsoft warned last week that China and Iran are working to move the needle on elections as well.

Spotlight Podcast: Taking a Risk-Based Approach to Election Security

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In this Spotlight Podcast, sponsored by RSA, we take on the question of securing the 2020 Presidential election. Given the magnitude of the problem, could taking a more risk-based approach to security pay off? We’re joined by two information security professionals: Rob Carey is the Vice President and General Manager of Global Public Sector Solutions at RSA. Also joining us: Sam Curry, the CSO of Cybereason.

With just over two months until the 2020 presidential election in the United States, campaigns are entering the final stretch as states and local governments prepare for the novel challenge of holding a national election amidst a global pandemic. 

As Election Threats Mount, Voting Machine Hacks are a Distraction

Lurking in the background: the specter of interference and manipulation of the election by targeted, disinformation campaigns like those Russia used during the 2016 campaign – or by outright attacks on election infrastructure. A report by the Senate Intelligence Committee warns that the Russian government is preparing to try to influence the 2020 vote, as well.

A Risk Eye on the Election Guy

Securing an election that takes place over weeks or even months across tens of thousands cities and towns – each using a different mix of technology and process – may be an impossible task. But that’s not necessarily what’s called for either.

Robert Carey RSA Security
Robert J. Carey is the  Vice President and GM of Global Public Sector Solutions at RSA.

Like large organizations who must contend with a myriad of threats, security experts say that elections officials would do well to adopt a risk-based approach to election security: focusing staff and resources in the communities and on the systems that are most critical to the outcome of the election. 

What does such an approach look like? To find out, we invited two, seasoned security professionals with deep experience in cyber threats targeting the public sector. 

Robert J. Carey is the  Vice President and GM of Global Public Sector Solutions at RSA.

Feds, Facebook Join Forces to Prevent Mid-Term Election Fraud

Rob retired from the Department of Defense in 2014 after over 31 years of distinguished public service after serving a 3½ years as DoD Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer.

Sam Curry, CISO Cybereason
Sam Curry is the CISO at Cybereason

Also with us is this week is Sam Curry, Chief Security Officer of the firm Cybereason. Sam has a long career in information security including work as CTO and CISO for Arbor Networks (NetScout)  CSO and SVP R&D at Microstrategy in addition to senior security roles at McAfee and CA. He spent seven years at RSA variously as CSO, CTO and SVP of Product and as Head of RSA Labs. 

Voting Machine Maker Defends Refusal of White-Hat Hacker Testing at DEF-CON

To start off our conversation: with a November election staring us in the face,  I asked Rob and Sam what they imagined the next few weeks would bring us in terms of election security. 

Like Last Time – But Worse

Both Rob and Sam said that the window has closed for major new voting security initiatives ahead of the 2020 vote. “This election…we’re rounding third base. Whatever we’ve done, we have to put the final touches on,” said Carey.

Like any other security program, election security needs baselines, said Curry. Elections officials need to “game out” various threat, hacking scenarios and contingencies. Election officials need to figure out how they would respond and how communications with the public will be handled in the event of a disruption, Curry said.

“The result we need is an election with integrity and the notion that the people have been heard. So let’s make that happen,” Curry said.

Spotlight Podcast: As Attacks Mount, ERP Security Still Lags

Carey said that – despite concerns – little progress had been made on election security. “The elections process has not really moved forward much. We had hanging chads and then we went to digital voting and then cyber came out and now we’re back to paper,” he said.

Going forward into the future, both agree that there is ample room for improvement in election security – whether that is through digital voting or more secure processes and technologies for in person voting. Carey said that the government does a good job securing classified networks and a similar level of seriousness needs to be brought to securing voting sessions.

“Is there something that enables a secure digital vote?” Carey said. “I’m pretty sure our classified networks are tight. I know we’re not in that space here, but I know we need that kind of confidence in that result to make this evidence of democracy stick,” he said.  

(*) Disclosure: This podcast and blog post were sponsored by RSA Security for more information on how Security Ledger works with its sponsors and sponsored content on Security Ledger, check out our About Security Ledger page on sponsorships and sponsor relations.

As always,  you can check our full conversation in our latest Security Ledger podcast at Blubrry. You can also listen to it on iTunes and check us out on SoundCloud, Stitcher, Radio Public and more. Also: if you enjoy this podcast, consider signing up to receive it in your email. Just point your web browser to securityledger.com/subscribe to get notified whenever a new podcast is posted.