When Insiders Are the Threat
Examines multi-state insider access schemes where voting machine software and system images were illicitly copied across Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
Summary
The Rise of Insider Threats in Election Administration
While election security traditionally focused on external nation-state cyberattacks, recent years have seen coordinated insider access breaches orchestrated by local officials and external partisans.
Multi-State Voting Software Breaches (2020-2022)
The panel details documented breaches across Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania where unauthorized actors obtained full forensic disk images and proprietary source code of commercial voting systems.
Implications of Purloined Election Software
Distributing voting system software, firmware keys, and election definitions into the wild lowers the barrier for adversaries to discover zero-day exploits and construct targeted malicious payloads for future elections.
Hardening Physical and Operational Access Controls
Addressing insider threats requires strict multi-custody access controls, enhanced forensic logging of machine maintenance, and proactive software hash verification before election certification.
Related talks
Voting Village·29 min
Susan Greenhalgh
Evaluates the effectiveness, rigor, and reliability of post-election audits conducted across seven closely contested swing states following the 2024 election.
Voting Village·44 min
Ron Rivest
Turing Award winner Ron Rivest explains software independence and evidence-based elections as foundational principles for securing democratic processes.
Voting Village·29 min
Debra Bowen · Matt Blaze · Clark · Hoke · Mulligan
Core researchers and public officials reflect on California's landmark Top-to-Bottom Review (TTBR) and Ohio's EVEREST study, evaluating their legacy for election security.