Skip to content

Policy Approach to Resolving Cybersecurity Problems

Jody Westby

Proposes a comprehensive federal policy approach to mandate vendor transparency, security standards, and cyber risk assessments in elections.

Summary

Persistent Vulnerabilities in Voting Systems

Independent security researchers consistently identify critical vulnerabilities in voting machines, registration databases, and tabulation infrastructure without seeing meaningful vendor remediation.

Private Sector Vendor Unresponsiveness

Commercial election technology vendors frequently resist vulnerability disclosures and fail to demonstrate robust cybersecurity hygiene or adherence to recognized industry baselines.

Federal Policy Interventions for Election Integrity

Addressing market failures in voting system security requires federal policy mandates requiring regular third-party risk assessments and continuous vulnerability reporting.

Enforcing Accountability Across Voting Supply Chains

Establishing statutory vendor accountability ensures that manufacturers of voter registration platforms and tabulation hardware prioritize security fixes to protect democratic processes.

Related talks

Voting Village·13 min

  • DEF CON
  • Policy
  • Date: Aug 2020
  • Location: Online

Mårten Mickos

Discusses how coordinated vulnerability disclosure and bug bounty programs enable researchers to report security flaws in election systems.

vulnerability-disclosurevoting-villageelection-security+2