In This Issue
- CyberDefenses Perspective: Why an Incident Response Plan is a must-have.
- Sign up for the CyberDefenses Academy Election Security Training Sessions.
- Noteworthy Headlines
- Learn what's really stumping officials when it comes to securing elections.
- Discover what's in the election bill that just passed the House.
- Here's what a watchdog says about the job that Homeland Security is doing.
- Is Facebook ready to protect election interity in 2020?
- Presidential campaigns are beginning and election security is stil a concern for 2020.
- Discover where the latest attacks have occured with the Interactive Election Incident Map
- CyberDefenses Blog: Legislation is a good first step. Read about what should be next.
- Find out which events should be on your calendar
Interactive Election Incident Map
In this interactive map, we capture information about the latest election cybersecurity incidents as they occur. Stay informed of the most recent attack locations and methods so you're armed with knowledge that can help you protect your data and systems.
Cyberdefenses Perspective
What You Need to Know About Creating an Incident Response Plan
An Incident Response Plan doesn't have to be as daunting of a project as it may seem. It's simply a document that captures the policies and steps your organization plans to take if you experience a cyberattack.
It can be an invaluable tool that gives you an opportunity to proactively consider the best response instead of reacting in potentially less-than-optimum ways during an attack. A good Incident Response Plan will include decisions like how you plan to handle any ransom requests and the escalation path of who needs to be notified on your technology and leadership teams. It will also address how you plan to communicate relevant information to the public and the media.
There are resources available to help you develop and implement an Incident Response Plan. CyberDefenses offers a downloadable Incident Response Plan Template that you can adapt for your environment and your organization.
CyberDefenses Academy Election Security Training
Noteworthy Headlines
PC Mag: Fixing Election Security Is Easier - and Harder - Than You Think
The security community understands how to fix voting machines and verify elections. Security expert Max Eddy explains that it's not even half the problem when it comes to election integrity. While the 2018 midterms concluded without much controversy, we're still fighting over the 2016 presidential election, and we're halfway to the next one.
Meritalk: House Passes HR 1 with $1.5 Billion for Election Security
The House passed the For the People Act, or H.R. 1, with a party-line vote of 234-193. The measure would give $1.5 billion in new voting technology funding. Led by Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., the bill includes provisions to enable automatic voter registration, strengthen resources to combat cybersecurity threats on elections, and make Election Day a national holiday for Federal workers.
TechCrunch: Homeland Security Hasn't Done Enough to Protect Election Infrastructure, Says Watchdog
Homeland Security could do more to protect election infrastructure, according to a new report by the department’s watchdog. The report from the inspector general, out Wednesday, said progress had been made but Homeland Security, the department charged with protecting elections and the back-end voting machine infrastructure, still “does not have dedicated staff” focused on election infrastructure. The department’s new agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which under its creation last year was charged with reducing the nation’s cybersecurity risks, was also “not adequately staffed” to support state and local election officials to help secure election infrastructure.
GovTech: SXSW 2019: Can Facebook Handle Its Election Security Role?
The discussion around securing elections broke away from the standard cybersecurity fare and turned to the ill effects of social media and misinformation during a panel at South by Southwest on March 11. The panelists, who included representatives from the New York Times,Facebook, the Atlantic Council and BlueDot Strategies, discussed the damaging and largely unforeseen role platforms like Facebook and Twitter have had on elections around the globe.
TechTarget: Election Security Threats Loom as Presidential Campaigns Begins
Never has it been more important to have a mechanism to audit U.S. voting results, but experts say election security risks combined with the weaponization of social media make the task more difficult than ever. The electronic voting systems used in a number of states are a concern for security experts who have seen serious flaws in these systems. If the 2020 U.S. election results are disputed by a candidate, there must be a clear way to show voting results are accurate to ensure a peaceful transition of government, said Avi Rubin a computer science professor at Johns Hopkins University, during an RSA Conference 2019 session on election hacking.
CyberDefenses Blog
Legislation Alone Won't Secure Elections. Action and Best Practices Will.
In recent weeks the federal and state governments have been pushing legislation forward in efforts to protect elections from cyberattack. These are crucial steps and significant wins. At the very least, the proposed laws raise awareness around the cybersecurity concerns that threaten the integrity of our elections. They are also a step forward in increasing the amount of available resources it will take the nation and local governments to defend election results against hacks, tampering and misinformation campaigns. As we wait to learn which bills will pass and which will not in the coming months, the proposed legislation is raising a critically important question.
cyberdefenses.com/elections | elections@cyberdefenses.com
CyberDefenses is an award-winning Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) specializing in election security. Schedule a 30-minute conversation to learn how we can help protect your election from cyber attack.