Bloomberg Businessweek Europe - 19.08.2019

37

August 19, 2019

Edited by

Dimitra Kessenides

S O L U T I O N S

ILLUSTRATION BY MOLLY ROSE DYSON

The 2020 elections could

face more serious attacks

Democracy vs.

Hackers

Security

The front line to protect the integrity of the

U.S. presidential election is in a Springfield

strip mall, next to a Chuck E. Cheese’s restau-

rant. There, inside the Illinois Board of Elections

headquarters, a couple dozen bureaucrats,

programmers, and security experts are furi-

ously working to prevent a replay of 2016, when

Russian hackers breached the state’s voter

registration rolls.

For 2020, Illinois is deploying new U.S.

government software to detect malicious

intrusions and dispatching technology

experts to help local election officials. Even

the National Guard, which started its own

cyber unit several years ago, is on speed dial

for election night if technicians needed to be

rushed to a faraway county.

Still, Illinois officials are nervous. The

cash-strapped state remains far short of the

resources needed to combat an increasing num-

ber of nations committing geopolitical breaches.

“We’re in an unusual time, and yes, there is con-

cern about whether we have enough to go into

2020 totally prepared for what the Chinese,

Russians, or North Koreans or any enemy of

the United States may do to influence our