The Independent View: Voting Technology Companies Share Intelligence

In Cybersecurity, there is often greater safety in numbers. Companies that Build Technology for U.S. Elections are joining an Information-Sharing Group employing Community, Collaboration, and the Free-Flow of Intelligence as a bulwark against Cyberthreats.

That alone won’t Secure Elections against Manipulation by Russia, other Nation-States, or Criminal Hackers, but it could help make them more Resilient.

The Elections Industry Special Industry Group is expected to include Companies that provide voting Tabulation, Election Management, Voter Registration, Electronic Pollbook, and Results-Reporting Technologies used in U.S. Elections. It will be housed within the IT Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IT-ISAC), a Non-Profit Group that supports Information Sharing among Firms including Intel Corp., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. and BAE Systems PLC.

A Public-Private Connection

The New Group would give Election Technology Vendors access to Real-Time Threat Indicators from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), IT-ISAC Members and Global Partners. “The goal is to broaden the .. information that we’re getting to include tech-focused threats,” said Kay Stimson, Vice President of Government Affairs for Dominion Voting Systems and Chair of the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council, which works with the DHS.

A Separate ISAC for Elections Infrastructure already exists, as does a Multi-State ISAC that Government entities have used to Coordinate on Election Security. Joining the IT-ISAC Group would provide greater Opportunities for Information Sharing among Private-Sector Companies, Ms. Stimson said.

Working more closely with Industry Peers and the IT Community could help Dominion respond Quickly to known or newly discovered Vulnerabilities, such as the Spectre and Meltdown Bugs disclosed earlier this year. While Dominion worked with Vendors to get more Information about the Vulnerabilities, “it would have been good to have information from those companies about what they were doing,” she said. “Instead it took a lot longer.”

DHS declared Election Systems Critical Infrastructure in 2017, prompting Larger Discussions among Technology Vendors and Government Agencies about how to Secure them. There has been a Broader Push to ensure Election Infrastructure is Secure from Potential Interference and that Voters have Confidence in the Results. “Many of us are seeing the increased awareness of manipulation of our (elections) infrastructure,” said Peder Jungck, President of the IT-ISAC and Vice President and General Manager of Intelligence Solutions at BAE. “The reason all these companies come together is to have the strength in numbers.”

Dominion, for one, acknowledged the need to move more quickly when Evaluating a Growing Range of Threats ahead of the November Midterm Elections. “Knowing what we know, I think the stakes are higher because more intelligence and information is available, and it’s our responsibility to evaluate it and do better,” said Matt Horace, Dominion’s Chief Security Officer.