Page 2 - atd

A2 u.s. news
Friday 8 July 2022
Election officials face security challenges before midterms

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY ensure voting systems are
Associated Press protected. State election
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — officials have also been fo-
Election officials preparing cused on boosting cyberse-
for the upcoming midterms curity defenses at the local
face a myriad of threats, level, where staffing and
both foreign and domes- resources are often limited.
tic, as they look to protect In Ohio, Secretary of State
voting systems and run a Frank LaRose recently an-
smooth election while fight- nounced a third wave of
ing a wave of misinforma- security requirements for
tion that has been under- the state’s county election
mining public confidence boards, which includes in-
in U.S. elections. creased video surveillance
The nation’s top state elec- for voting equipment and
tion officials gathered Thurs- more comprehensive se-
day for the start of their an- curity reviews of county sys-
nual summer conference, tems.
with a long list of challeng- “It’s constant vigilance,”
es that begins with securing LaRose said Thursday. “The
their voting systems. threat is constantly emerg-
While a top concern head- ing. The threat is constantly
ing into the 2020 presiden- changing. And so we’re
tial election was Russia or Jen Easterly, Director of Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure evolving with it and making
another hostile nation wag- Security Agency, speaks during the summer conference of the National Association of Secretaries sure that our guard is up.”
of State on July 7, 2022, in Baton Rouge, La., as Kyle Ardoin, Louisiana Secretary of State listens.
ing a disruptive cyberat- Associated Press Election security became
tack, the landscape has a national focus after the
expanded to include ran- that criminal gangs push- state and local election of- some of it does relate to just 2016 presidential election,
somware, politically moti- ing ransomware were also ficials, which includes site the physical security threats when Russia probed state
vated hackers and insider a concern. But she noted visits and reviews of security that they’re facing,” said voter registration systems
threats. Over the last year, election security officials procedures such as video Kim Wyman, who leads across the country looking
a small number of secu- could not afford to prioritize surveillance and access election security efforts for for vulnerabilities.
rity breaches have been one over the other. controls. Physical security the cybersecurity agency. In response, the Obama
reported at local election “We can’t just worry about has always been a con- “And what we’re trying to administration designated
offices in which authorities one thing because if we fo- cern but an onslaught of do with this is give them election systems as “critical
are investigating whether cus too intently on one set threats since 2020 targeting tools to be able to to deal infrastructure” -- on par with
office staff improperly ac- of threats, we’re very likely election officials have add- with that.” the nation’s banks, dams
cessed or provided im- to miss them coming from ed urgency to the effort. The agency has also issued and nuclear power plants.
proper access to sensitive another direction,” Easterly State and local election of- guidance on how to miti- This freed up resources and
voting technology. told reporters, after a series ficials have reported being gate insider threats, which funds for election officials,
Jen Easterly, who leads of private meetings with harassed in person and re- emphasizes the impor- and a concerted effort was
the nation’s cybersecurity state election officials. ceiving death threats over tance of chain of custody made to improve commu-
agency, said Russia, China The U.S. Cybersecurity social media and text mes- rules. The guidance also nications and intelligence
and North Korea remain and Infrastructure Security sage. suggests the use of bipar- sharing between the fed-
“very dynamic and com- Agency has been conduct- “We’re seeing an exodus tisan teams when access- eral government and the
plex cyber threats” and ing physical assessments for of people in the field. And ing sensitive equipment to states.q

Florida man sentenced in death threat

to Minnesota Rep. Omar

congresswomen. Donald Trump, who said Mizelle noted that a proba-
David George Hannon, 67, they should “go back” to tion officer recommended
also must undergo men- the “crime-infested places” against prison time, along
tal and substance abuse from which they came. with Hannon’s expressions
treatment and have no “He was doing that be- of remorse, lack of prior
contact with Omar or Reps. cause Trump told him to,” trouble, his age and health
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez his daughter, Elizabeth problems. “I’m very, very
of New York, Ayanna Press- Hannon Dillon, told the sorry and very remorseful
ley of Massachusetts and judge during the hearing about my behavior that
Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, on Wednesday. “He was a night,” Hannon said as he
according to a report in Trump supporter and now stood before the judge,
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn speaks, as U.S. Reps., from
left, Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and the Tampa Bay Times. he regrets it.” This threat stooped and trembling.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., listen, during a news Hannon, who pleaded was “heinous and inappro- Hannon emailed Omar’s
conference at the Capitol in Washington, July 15, 2019. guilty in April to threatening priate in every regard,” U.S. campaign with a subject
Associated Press a federal official, sent the District Judge Kathryn Kim- line that read: “Your Dead
email after the four Demo- ball Mizelle said. “This sort You Radical Muslim,” writ-
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A fed- and a $7,000 fine for send- cratic lawmakers held a of behavior has no place ing that Omar should get
eral judge sentenced a ing an email threatening news conference in July in our society.” Sentencing more security or she and
former Trump supporter to to kill Rep. Ilhan Omar of 2019 in response to criti- guidelines called for about the other women would be
three years of probation Minnesota and three other cism from former President 10 months in prison, but “six feet under.”q