cybersecurity has moved to the top of every
election official’s priority list,” Connecticut
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said.
Earlier this summer, the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, also
hosted the second “Tabletop the Vote” national
exercise involving 47 states, other government
agencies and private sector election companies.
“Exercises like this play a critical role in election
security by bringing everyone together so we
can better understand each other’s processes
and improve incident response plans,” said Matt
Masterson, senior cybersecurity adviser at CISA.
The tabletop exercises also build bonds between
technology specialists, county clerks and other
election officials, said Oregon Elections Director
Stephen Trout. It was only a couple of years
that officials here began receiving training in
avoiding phishing attempts and strengthening
passwords, he said.
Homeland Security officials are also visiting
every county in Oregon to check on systems,
Trout said. Oregon has a vote-by-mail system,
where votes are tallied at county clerk’s offices.
New Jersey’s secretary of state is preparing to
hold a similar drill on Sept. 10 in Princeton. This
fall, a full day will be dedicated in Oklahoma
to election security, including training and
briefings from Homeland Security officials
and State Election Board staff and contractors.
Michigan has a presentation scheduled
involving city and township clerks, along with
DHS and CISA.
Besides participating in the national table top
exercise, Vermont officials held a New England
Regional Summit, with attendance from
secretary of state offices, the Department of
Homeland Security, the FBI and others.
nora
(Nora)
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