An investigation revealed that nothing had been damaged in both state and county systems, but that the hackers had stolen the login information of one elections official.
The FBI has not commented on whether this hack was prompted by the Russian government or if it was the work of criminals. Regardless, it further demonstrates Russia’s interest in American election procedures. In early August, the bureau warned state officials to be vigilant — they have detected attempted invasions of multiple states’ voting systems.
The hackers responsible for infiltrating Illinois’s database did not meddle with the information stored there. However, there is cause form alarm in that this hack is the first to endanger a state voter-registration database.
In an address to all Illinois election authorities, Kyle Thomas, director of voting and registration systems wrote, “This was a highly sophisticated attack most likely from a foreign (international) entity.”
With November’s presidential election approaching, each state is keen—especially in light of these attacks—to secure its voting systems. Infiltrations during the voting process could potentially render the results unreliable and lead to disastrous results.
