Guardian: Russian Agents Hacked US Voting System Manufacturer Before US Election (6/5/2017)

[Julia Bernd]

Summary: According to a leaked report, the U.S. National Security Agency believes that Russian state intelligence services hacked a voting machine company and sent spearphishing email to some election officials prior to last November’s presidential election. It is not clear what information they were able to obtain nor whether they were able to manipulate voter data.

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/05/russia-us-election-hack-voting-system-nsa-report

Discussion Ideas:

• What are the advantages of electronic voting systems? Who do they help the most?
• What does this story demonstrate about potential problems with electronic voting systems? What could be done to prevent problems?
• If you were designing a security training for local election officials, what do you think they would most need to know?
  • Before hearing about this story, would you have thought of (spear)phishing as one of the most important things to teach them about?

Alignment with CSP Global Impact Framework Points:

• LO 7.1.1 Explain how computing innovations affect communication, interaction, and cognition.
  • EK 7.1.1L Computing contributes to many assistive technologies that enhance human capabilities.
• LO 7.3.1 Analyze the beneficial and harmful effects of computing.
  • EK 7.3.1G Privacy and security concerns arise in the development and use of computational systems and artifacts.
• LO 7.4.1 Explain the connections between computing and real-world contexts, including economic, social, and cultural contexts.

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