The concern about cyber vulnerabilities in voting machines on Election Day has been making headlines, as state-sponsored hackers have been to blame for numerous attacks on government departments and top political figures. Fears of Russia and other nation-states hacking systems to directly influence the presidential election are certainly warranted – a Princeton University computer science professor was able to hack a voting machine in just seven minutes. In fact, the FBI has already investigated a hack into Illinois and Arizona election systems’ databases, where foreign hackers are likely to blame.
Cybersecurity firm Carbon Black reported that the doubts regarding cybersecurity in voting machines could result in more than 15 million registered voters not participating in the November elections. What’s more, more than half of registered voters (56 percent) are concerned that the elections will be influenced by a cyber-event and 36 percent feel their personal voting information is currently insecure. When it comes to cybercriminals hacking the election, voters believe the biggest threats are a U.S. insider threat (28 percent), Russia (17 percent) and the candidates themselves (15 percent).