Cyber Security Warnings For US 2020 Election

US cyber security experts are warning that hacking on government institutions reached crisis levels in 2019 and that, based on what they've seen in early 2020, hackers will focus on the next Presidential election.

Ransomware has become a real threat to governments and potentially to future elections. Hackers launched 169 ransomware attacks on US government agencies from 2013 through the first four months of 2019, according to cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. Typically hackers infect the computers of government agencies before demanding that they pay a ransom for an encryption key that will free their locked files and records.

This month the US Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) has released its cybersecurity plan for the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, outlining the agency's role as a facilitator that will assist federal, state and local agencies in protecting critical election infrastructure.

CISA is a unit of the US Department of Homeland Security, will focus on protecting the election infrastructure as well as the infrastructure used by campaigns and political parties; making sure voters are protected from disinformation campaigns; and issuing warnings and responses related to foreign influence and hacking. 

The agency will help identify cyber threats, share intelligence and assist in mitigating security issues that target government organisations as well as voters, according to the plan. It's also planning public awareness campaigns that will discusses issues that include foreign disinformation campaigns and threats such as phishing attacks, the plan notes.

CISA focuses on making sure that election infrastructure stakeholders have the skills and information necessary to assess and manage the risks they face.

Three years ago, the Department of Homeland Security classified election processes as "critical infrastructure," placing them in a highly protected category of operations considered vital to keep the United States functioning. Three years after the reclassification, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says it's now receiving a record number of complaints about internet scams and crimes.

In a new report the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center says it received 467,361 complaints in 2019, the highest number since the center was created in 2000. Florida ranked second in the nation among complaints per state, behind California, with a reported 27,178 calls to the crime center. 

But the numbers only reflect the organisations that publicly report they've been attacked. It is widely thought by experts that  80-90% of organisations do not disclose that their systems have been infected with malware, or worse, ransomware, to authorities. 

CISA:         FBI IC3:        GovTech:        Norton:        BankInfoSecurity: 

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