Ahead of yet another contentious presidential election season, CISA has released a cybersecurity checklist for officials looking to ensure that the basic defensive measures have been covered. While the list is rudimentary and possibly not sufficient to head off a skilled and determined nation-state attacker, it provides a solid foundation for election infrastructure overseers and staff that may not have much experience with cybersecurity.
CISA looks to boost election infrastructure after attempts by Iran, disinformation by Russia
As has become typical with election seasons around the globe, the US is already facing a mix of attacks on campaign staff and disinformation centered on candidates and the voting process. CISA and other federal agencies are looking to head off any bigger threats to election infrastructure. While voting machines are supposed to be kept away from the internet, other elements such as voter registration systems and public information websites are potentially vulnerable.
There has been at least one early attempt at election interference via hacking, with Iran accused of breaking into email accounts belonging to high-level Trump campaign staffers and dumping their contents. Russia is usually at the forefront of attempts on US election infrastructure, but thus far seems to have been focusing on disseminating disinformation rather than breaking into anything. One of the talking points Russia has been hammering is that the voter registration process is flawed and vulnerable, however, indicating a potential point of focus with almost two months left to go until election day.
All of that said, the cybersecurity checklist is not a serious attempt to provide guidance in repelling an advanced nation-state attacker. But it does provide a necessary primer for those less technically inclined, and serves as a reminder of the absolutely necessary fundamentals that need to be kept up for those supervising election infrastructure.
CISA cybersecurity checklist provides links to numerous free resources
The biggest assistance provided by CISA’s cybersecurity checklist appears to be the collection of links to its free resources. This includes a list of free DDoS protection services, free resources for creating response plans and running tabletop exercises, and free commercial endpoint detection and response (EDR) software for Election Infrastructure Information and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC) members. CISA also provides free weekly vulnerability scanning and immediate alerts of new software vulnerabilities.
These services are likely to be welcomed by cities and counties with minimal IT budget and staffing. While these localities have increasingly become a popular target with ransomware attackers, they are in a new world of trouble if the world’s most advanced nation-state hacking teams set their eyes on them.
Network defenders should nevertheless be able to keep hostile actors out of the voting system, but peripheral systems in election infrastructure are a point of concern. Attackers will most likely focus on public-facing information systems, like websites providing voting locations or news sources providing updates on vote totals. Reviewing the cybersecurity checklist is thus not a bad idea for anyone similarly connected to the election process.
