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In 2016, Russian hackers accessed the database for the Illinois
State Board of Elections, which included voters’ names,
addresses and birthdates. An investigation revealed up to
500,000 personal voter records may have been accessed during
that breach.
Election databases are attractive targets to hackers because
they contain personal information that can be pieced together
with other data to help criminals steal money.
During an Illinois House Ethics and Elections Committee hearing
Wednesday, Illinois Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich
said the hack changed Illinois' approach to election security.
“Virtually everything changed in how data is handled at the
State Board of Elections following that incident in 2016,”
Dietrich said.
The agency has developed the Cyber Navigator Program, which
splits the state up into geographic zones and places two Cyber
Navigators in each zone. Their goal is to train the end users in
election authority offices to help guard against security
breaches.
Illinois does not require election authorities to participate in
the Cyber Navigator Program. It is 100% volunteer based.
Dietrich said protecting against hackers is a constant battle.
“Security has now become, and I think not just for us but for
all the election authorities, just part of the job,” said
Dietrich. “We’re aware that it is a never ending concern.”
Despite voters in many jurisdictions in Illinois using
touchscreen or other electronic voting systems, state law
requires that each vote leave behind a paper receipt, so any
vote that is disrupted electronically can still be audited.
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