A U.S. senator has linked two of the hottest tech policy stories around – efforts by U.S. agencies to blacklist cybersecurity vendor Kaspersky Lab and concerns about the vulnerability of voting systems used by cities and states. Sen. Amy Klochubar (D-Minn.) who sits on a committee with authority over federal elections, is concerned that Kaspersky could be in a position to provide Russian intelligence agencies access to state and local election data, by virtue of connections to computers involved in managing election activities. “Given recent revelations regarding how Russia used Kaspersky software to breach our systems, it is important to prioritize state critical infrastructure systems in conjunction with efforts currently underway at the federal level,” Klochubar wrote in an Oct. 12 letter to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke.
“The potential threat posed to our election infrastructure by the use of Kaspersky software appears to be significant and it is essential to ensure that future elections are safeguarded from foreign interference,” Klochubar wrote.
The letter comes in the wake of the Oct. 10 release of a report from security group DEF CON warning of supply chain uncertainties that could render voting machines susceptible to hacking at scale. The report also details the ease with which hackers at a Las Vegas event this summer were able to crack into machines to which they had physical access.
In early September, the state of Virginia took the step of decertifying electronic-only voting equipment used in 22 localities in the wake of a security assessment by the Virginia Information Technology Agency.
Full Article: Senator wants Kaspersky out of U.S. voting systems — FCW.