DNC official: We all need to get serious about election security. You too, Republicans.

The following commentary by Bob Lord was posted on the USA Today website August 14, 2018:

From candidates to voters, we’re vulnerable to cyber attacks. Here are ways you can make it harder for foreign adversaries to disrupt US elections.

Cybersecurity is on everyone’s mind as we approach the 2018 midterm elections. We’re reading articles about everything from the challenges of securing voter machines, to new phrases like “computational propaganda” and “influence operations,” to Trump not doing enough to hold Russia accountable and Republicansrefusing to provide necessary election security funding.

Here at Democratic Party headquarters, we know firsthand the damage wreaked by a cyber intrusion. We strongly believe our democracy will not be protected from the threat of foreign adversaries until Republicans join Democrats to take action.

Still, the DNC is not waiting for the cavalry to show up. We are doing everything we can right now to ensure our elections are safe and secure. We’re trying to better understand these issues and find solutions to not only protect ourselves, but to help campaigns and state parties do the same. The DNC is partnering with experts to help shape our thinking across the spectrum of security-related topics. We’ve also offered better resources and guidance to our own staffers and opened up lines of communication with candidates, state parties, and the rest of the Democratic infrastructure.

View the complete post here.

Donald Trump’s ‘missing’ server comments get all of the details wrong

The following article by Amy Sherman and Manuela Tobias was posted on the PolitiFact website July 16, 2018:

Standing beside Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump answered reporters’ questions about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and if he believed Putin’s denials over his own intelligence community’s findings.

Instead of answering the question directly, Trump began discussing servers.

“You have groups that are wondering why the FBI never took the server — haven’t they taken the server. Why was the FBI told to leave the office of the Democratic National Committee? I’ve been wondering that, I’ve been asking that for months and months and I’ve been tweeting it out and calling it out on social media. Where is the server? I want to know where is the server and what is the server saying? Continue reading “Donald Trump’s ‘missing’ server comments get all of the details wrong”

DNC on Indictments Related to Russian Hack

People walk on Red Square past the Kremlin in December. Credit: Yuri Kadobnov, AFP/Getty Images)

DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement after Special Counsel Robert Mueller issued an indictment against Russian government officials responsible for cyber-attacks on the Democratic National Committee and other political and election-related organizations during the 2016 U.S. elections:

“The Russian government attacked our democracy in 2016 and the Democratic National Committee was a primary target of this attack. Those are the facts.

“Today’s indictment makes clear just how vast this operation was, adding details such as Russian intelligence officers’ intrusion into the website of a state election board and theft of information related to approximately 500,000 voters. Continue reading “DNC on Indictments Related to Russian Hack”

Cybersecurity firm finds evidence that Russian military unit was behind DNC hack

The following article by Ellen Nakashima was posted on the Washington Post website December 22, 2016:

The Post’s Ellen Nakashima goes over the events, and discusses the two hacker groups responsible. (Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post)

A cybersecurity firm has uncovered strong proof of the tie between the group that hacked the Democratic National Committee and Russia’s military intelligence arm — the primary agency behind the Kremlin’s interference in the 2016 election.

The firm CrowdStrike linked malware used in the DNC intrusion to malware used to hack and track an Android phone app used by the Ukrainian army in its battle against pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine from late 2014 through 2016. Continue reading “Cybersecurity firm finds evidence that Russian military unit was behind DNC hack”