Hack the vote: Could cyberattackers disrupt the election? - CNET
Stealing votes with software. It may have been a plot in the political thriller TV show "Scandal,"
but it could happen in real life, too. In fact, Homeland Security
Secretary Jeh Johnson said Wednesday that it's a major concern.
In
light of the hacking attacks on the Democratic National Committee and
another fundraising organization for the Democrats, the US government
should ask whether to treat elections as "critical infrastructure," Johnson said at a breakfast in Washington, DC, sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.
That
official designation often refers to physical infrastructure, like the
power grid and dams. But elections are critical to democracy, Johnson
said, which could justify adding the voting system to the US
government's list of 16 critical infrastructure sectors. "There's a vital national interest in our election process," he told reporters at the event.
