Election Season Reinforces the Importance of Cybersecurity
This month, the Office of the Secretary of State of Georgia successfully repelled a cyberattack, which seems likely to have been perpetrated by foreign actors. The target was the webpage that allows voters to request absentee ballots.
This not the first election-season cyberattack. The App Security Project reported previously that Chinese hackers targeted U.S. telecommunications infrastructure. It is now clear that the targets included people affiliated with Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, GOP nominee and former President Donald Trump, his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Elections raise the incentives for foreign-aligned hackers to infiltrate American networks and pilfer sensitive data from devices. But the truth is that, in the digital age, cybersecurity is an ever-present imperative. From dams to cars to toasters, as more and more parts of life come online, opportunities for nefarious actors proportionately increase.
As life becomes more interconnected (not just elections), nearly every indispensable part of life, the economy, and politics will be dependent on hackable technology. Once, it was fact of life that villages had to build defenses against Viking raids. Today, robust cybersecurity is necessary to defend against marauders who, as they operate in the cyberspace, will never likely set a physical foot on American soil. With the tremendous benefits of innovation and connectivity comes the necessity to redouble efforts to protect against cybercriminals.
Unfortunately, even as Chinese hackers target the devices of both major parties’ presidential campaigns, there are lawmakers in Washington who want to weaken the cybersecurity protections device operating systems are allowed to provide to their users. These misguided attempts usually stem from a desire to create artificial “competition” in the market, yet they would destroy the protections consumers rely on to keep themselves safe, and their data private, in the digital world.
Lawmakers should take stock of the tidal wave of news stories, which are continuously breaking, that demonstrate the importance of strong digital defenses. Then, they should reject proposals that would compromise cybersecurity.
Published on October 30, 2024