Federal officials also provide the Vermont
secretary of state’s office with weekly
scans, looking for vulnerabilities in election
infrastructure so action can be taken to mitigate
risk, said Eric Covey, chief of staff of Vermont’s
secretary of state’s office. Vermont is also in the
queue for a DHS-conducted simulated phishing
campaign, Covey said.
In 2016, hackers gained access to the email
account of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman,
John Podesta, and stole over 50,000 emails.
The hackers used phishing emails to steal login
credentials. U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller
charged 12 Russian military intelligence officers
with breaking into Democratic Party emails, and
indicted other Russians who used phony social
media accounts to spread divisive rhetoric and
undermine the U.S. political system.
Trout said federal officials are right to focus
their efforts to protect the 2020 election at the
state level.
“The state is the top level,” he said. “There are no
federal election administrators.”
Oregon Secretary of State Bev Clarno said she
feels her state is more able now to fend off
any disruptions, and that the biggest threat
is misinformation.
“That was the biggest problem in 2016 and we
expect more of the same in 2020. Just because
you read something on social media or online
doesn’t mean it’s true,” Clarno said in a statement.
Trout said the threat of disinformation
underscores the need to advise voters not to
believe everything they read and to bolster
their confidence that their vote is going to be
counted as cast. Oregon is looking at using
Facebook, YouTube and other tools in an
education campaign, he said.
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