After the State Board of Elections was attacked in Arizona and Illinois in two separate data breaches, the FBI is advising all states to keep an eye on their voter registration systems for any unusual activity. Although the initial attempt in Arizona in June 2016 did not succeed, hackers were able to access Illinois voter records just a month later.
What happened?
Arizona was the first state to see the hackers at work after malware was discovered on an election official’s computer in June 2016. The state’s online voter registration systems were shut down for nine days following the discovery, and the breach attempt was deemed unsuccessful.
Illinois, however, faced a different situation. State officials reported that hackers gained access to names, home addresses, driver’s license numbers, ID card numbers, and party affiliation details for 200,000 registered voters. Following a 10-day halt of Illinois’ voter registration systems, the state confirmed that hackers did not alter or delete any voter records in the system.
Unfortunately, the Department of Homeland Security does not consider voting systems to be “critical infrastructure.” As a result, they are not protected by the federal government.
Response to these incidents
Officials also suspect that both the recent breach attempts and the email hack of the Democratic National Committee earlier this year could simply be precursors to a larger attack.
What should you do?
If you are registered to vote, particularly in Illinois, watch out for scam letters in the mail and possible cases of identity theft. Mail scams can be used to obtain other pieces of information such as your birth date and Social Security number. These pieces of information, in concert with your driver’s license information, name and home address, can be used to open new accounts under your name.