After the Iowa caucus debacle and before the nation's first primary vote in New Hampshire, a cybersecurity firm ran an election hacking simulation Friday for law enforcement, DHS officials, FBI employees, and Secret Service members to prepare for the possibility of election interference.
Although New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner says the state's paper ballot should be safe, stating: "You can't hack this pencil.".
But Cybereason's Chief Information Security Officer Israel Barak told Cheddar, "When you look at the traditional ways of thinking about election meddling risks, people are used to thinking about manipulating voter registration holes or hacking electronic machines."
"We want to bring to light the fact there are a plethora of ways to affect the outcome of elections and public trust in the electoral process," he added.
Pencils may be protected, but trust is not.
"We got a reminder of the fragility of American trust during the Democratic [Iowa caucus]," Barak, a cyber defense expert, said. He called it a "failure in election support."
Even before the meltdown in Iowa, Gardner's office stepped up security ahead of the primary, investing in new protective software and cybersecurity training to monitor online threats.
"At the end of the day, the fact that the state is using paper ballots helps reduce certain types of risks, but it doesn't eliminate the risk," he said.
Shelby Pierson, the nation's first intelligence community executions threats executive, agrees. She told NPR threats may expand beyond those that Russia engaged inthe 2016 election.
<i>Courtesy: Cybereason</i>
The simulation concluded in New Hampshire involved two teams — one composed of law enforcement officials at the local, state, and federal levels and another representing hackers and cybersecurity professionals — that are presented with scenarios that include new risks to voting security.
Barak said the simulation does not focus on election support systems, like ballots, but on other methods through which bad actors may seek to creatively affect voting, such as creating gridlock on roadways to suppress voters, which could be acutely problematic in swing states or cities where small numbers of voters may affect elections.
He worries a "failure of imagination" may "be our downfall."
The preparedness exercises won't end after Tuesday's primary. Barak says there are plans to run additional exercises throughout local, state, primary, and federal elections.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
House Republicans in key battleground districts are working to contain the political fallout expected when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. For a critical sliver of the GOP majority, the impending expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 could be a major political liability as they potentially face midterm headwinds in a 2026 election critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. For Democrats, the party’s strategy for capturing the House majority revolves around pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on Republicans.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
