As the midterm elections grow closer, concerns for voting security continue to mount, particularly in light of research unveiled after this year’s Def Con security conference, which found that the websites of nearly one-third of the US House candidates are vulnerable to attack.
Independent researchers unveiled the alarming security problems that exist in the websites of three in every 10 candidates - both Republican and Democrat - running for the US House of Representatives, according to news from Reuters.
Under the leadership of former National Institutes for Standards and Technology (NIST) security expert Joshua Franklin, a team of four independent researchers used automated scans to test the websites of candidates on both sides of the aisle and reportedly found multiple vulnerabilities. Franklin told Reuters that the team is trying to contact all the candidates so that they can fix the problems.
Earlier this month, the ever-present threats from cyber-criminals became a reality for Tabitha Isner, the Democratic candidate running in Alabama's second congressional district, who alleged Russians attempted to hack her campaign website. Just this week Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said that Russians penetrated voter registration systems in Florida.
As candidates struggle to shore up their websites, vendors in the cybersecurity space are moving forward in the development of new technologies to help candidates running for office.
Thycotic announced today that it has released a free Cybersecurity Election Protection Toolkit to help campaigns for federal, state and local elected offices prevent attacks on their credentials/passwords amid recent cyber-threats by Russian hackers and other cyber-criminals.
The toolkit includes links to additional free online tools, such as Password Strength Checker and Strong Password Generator, which is available to any organization looking to protect its critical data assets.
“With many in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate up for reelection in November, along with a host of newcomers on the political scene, our goal in offering this Election Protection Toolkit is to help ensure the integrity of our midterm elections,” said Steve Kahan, chief marketing officer at Thycotic.