With the above in mind, here in Washington state the Center for Regional Disaster Resilience (which I’m part of) will be supporting what is called Homeland Security Region 6 (King County) in hosting an Election Security Workshop in 2022, in concert with the Washington Secretary of State’s Office.
The target audience is elected officials themselves. Our goal is to ensure they understand all the physical and cybersecurity measures being taken to protect the integrity of the election system in Washington.
FYI, there are over 500 separately elected officials in just King County alone. We are targeting the neighboring counties and state elected officials too.
What made me think of the above was the article below from the Washington Post that highlights the fact that six states have no paper ballots at all. Very dangerous in this cyber world we live in today.
“By Joseph Marks
“with research by Aaron Schaffer
“Welcome to The Cybersecurity 202! Call me a purist, but I don’t see how a microwave Christmas pudding has any place on ‘The Great British Baking Show’ holidays edition.
“Below: Russia is blocking access to the Tor anonymizing network, and the Conti ransomware gang took credit for a hack of Australia’s utilities. And one more note before we get started today: consider checking out our sister newsletter, The Climate 202, where author Maxine Joselow takes you inside the hottest climate policy debates in Washington.
“Six states are still using paperless voting machines
“More than five years after Russian interference troubled the 2016 election, Louisiana still hasn’t transitioned to a paper ballot system for its voters.
“While the state legislature committed to switch to a paper-based system this year, it won’t be ready before the 2022 election and may not be ready in time for 2024, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin (R) tells me.
“The big picture: That means the state is still falling short of what federal officials say is the single most important protection to secure elections against hacking from Russia or elsewhere. In at least the next election, its voters will cast ballots on machines called direct recording equipment that experts say make it far easier for hackers to change votes undetected.
“‘We’re going to have a paper-based system. The point is we can’t rush into it without looking at all of the changes that need to be made … and educating voters, as well as educating elected officials,’ Ardoin told me. ‘It’s a dramatic shift from where we are today.’”
