A continuous increase of data breaches, the 2016 election interferences and financial security concerns are causing a riff in the public’s cybersecurity trust in government and industry, and could impact whether people show to vote. That’s according to global IT company Unisys’ annual security index, a look at global and national security concerns. The index is a calculated score out of 300 that measures consumer concerns over time across eight areas of security in four categories: national security, financial security, internet security and personal security. This year’s index is 173, same as last year, but 32 percent higher than 10 years ago, according to the report. And the highest security concerns people have are around identity theft and bankcard fraud. In fact, identity theft was one of the top eight security threats measured, coming before national security (including terrorism), disasters and epidemics, financial obligations, bankcard fraud, viruses and hacking, online transactions and personal safety.
… Krebs said one of the unique and valuable elements of the Unisys report is its emphasis on consumer confidence. “The federal government in and of itself does not necessarily have an oriented mechanism to address the confidence element of cybersecurity,” Krebs said, and DHS’ National Protection and Programs Directorate more so focuses on hard infrastructure challenges and technical issues. But this lack of confidence has its implications. Unisys found that nearly one in five U.S. consumers said they will not vote or are unlikely to vote in the 2018 midterm elections, simply due to concerns around election tampering.
What’s the Solution?
It’s paper ballots and audible systems, according to Krebs.
“Election security is about resilience in the system, and auditability, and understanding where your last good point is so you can validate the results, and to that end, audibility being a core tenant of IT security,” he said. So, how do we get there? “It’s paper ballots paper ballots paper ballots, audits audits audits.”
Full Article: Mitigating Election Security Risks Rely on System Resiliency, Auditability.