Oregon Senator Demands Security Information From Voting Machine Manufacturers

Democratic Senator of Oregon, Ron Wyden, is curious on how secure the top 6 voting machine manufactures in the United States are. A few weeks prior to this request, the US government discovered that Russian government hackers targeted at least 20 states' election systems during the 2016 presidential election. One of the top voting manufacturers, Hart InterCivic, provides voting services and products to 18 states and did not notice any security breaches during the election on its system or devices. Numerous voting manufacturers have yet to comment on the matter as they have yet to receive the letter from Wyden. The Department of Homeland Security officials believe that the Russian hackers did not have the intention of hacking the systems involved in counting votes, but rather for other cyber attack purposes.In August 2016, a Russian military hacking corporation targeted a Florida-based voting software vendor with phishing emails to attempt to trick the vendor into giving them private information. 

 Investigations on outside influences during the 2016 presidential election have been long overdue. Senator Wyden could not be more right with his response on why he believes this information should be investigated,"Ensuring that Americans can trust that election systems and infrastructure are secure is necessary to protecting confidence in our electoral process and democratic government,". In order for a country to prosper, there needs to be trust within the system. If the system is rigged or tempered with at all, then not only is the integrity of the voting process lost, but also the faith that citizens have in their government and their leader. Ensuring that United States voting manufacturers are secure from cyber attacks is a big step in gaining trust from citizens, but the security of the election goes beyond voting machines. 

One of the most important characteristics that I believe a leader of a country should have is the expectation to do what is right and to do what is best for their country and people. I personally do not believe that Donald Trump has fulfilled that expectation since becoming the president. Donald Trump is currently friends with Russia's president Vladimir Putin who is known for being secretive with Russia's government operations. Creating a positive relationship with a first world country leader seems like a good thing, but that is not the case when dealing with Russia. There are numerous accusations of Russia attempting to sway the election in favor of Trump from posting Facebook ads to creating fake accounts. All of these social media and hacking tactics had the same purpose; insulting and degrading presidential elect Hilary Clinton. Donald Trump may have won the election, but it can be easily taken away if the alleged actions on Russia are true.

https://inhomelandsecurity.com/us-senator-seeks-cyber-info-from-voting-machine-makers/