State and local government officials have spent the past four years building up their cybersecurity defenses. They worked to build cooperation and communication with each other and with the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. On Nov. 3, those efforts paid off.
Earlier this year, experts were concerned about “deepfake” videos, which are completely fabricated videos of politicians or other prominent figures saying and doing things that never happened. However, deepfakes were not as prevalent as feared, in part because simple edits and shameless falsehoods were easier to create — and worked just as well.
All of the election security concerns that existed in January before the coronavirus pandemic are still out there and are now more difficult to tackle, including malicious actors spreading disinformation and attackers targeting voting databases. How are state and local governments working with federal partners to address these threats?
State and local governments face an array of election cybersecurity threats, from attacks on voter registration databases to misinformation on social media. They have bolstered their defenses and are partnering closely with the Department of Homeland Security. Through Nov. 3 and beyond, we’ll be tracking what state and local election officials are doing to enhance their cybersecurity and speaking with top experts in the field.
Exclusive Q&A’s
We spoke with state election officials and outside experts about enhancing election cybersecurity.
“We are relying much more than I think anyone could have expected at the beginning of 2020 on online systems for registration.”
LAWRENCE NORDEN, director of the Brennan Center’s election reform program
“We were the first state in the nation to conduct a risk-limiting audit that shows to a high statistical degree of certainty that our election results are correct.”
We'll be speaking with election cybersecurity experts in government and from nonprofits on how state and local agencies can best enhance election security. Become an Insider for access to exclusive Q&A’s and articles. You’ll also gain access to a personalized dashboard that makes it easy to stay up to date on the latest in state and local government IT.