PerspectiveElection Security after Iowa
The Iowa caucus debacle offers an illustration of election security failure in action, and the failure was followed by public anger and the spreading of conspiracy theories. Simon Handler writes that “If the Iowa caucus delay is any indication of how the public may react to an electoral snafu, a great deal more mayhem could arise from a far more serious threat.” In 2015 Russian cyberattacks shutdown power stations in Ukraine, causing blackouts in parts of the country. “Disrupting power distribution at the right moment in the right portions of the U.S. grid, targeting a few select states or counties, could cause just enough disruption to bring on a level of chaos that would dwarf what happened in Iowa,” Handler writes.
The Iowa caucus debacle offers an illustration of election security failure in action. Simon Handler writes in Lawfare that inconsistencies in data, caused in part by an apparent coding error in a new smartphone app used for reporting results, delayed announcement of the caucus results—which in turn led to a media frenzy and drove conspiracy theories. The Democratic National Committee has now called for a recanvass in areas where irregularities were reported. “The lesson to be learned from this disaster is not merely one about the perils of smartphones in voting. It’s a vivid illustration of how public reaction to a mishap can be worse than the mishap itself,” he writes, adding:
If the Iowa caucus delay is any indication of how the public may react to an electoral snafu, a great deal more mayhem could arise from a far more serious threat. Iran and Russia have been shifting their sights toward targeting industrial control systems, including portions of the power grid, and the United States should be prepared for an attack on such systems, especially during election season—even temporary outages could influence voter turnout and force delays in voting and reporting. Moscow has shown a desire to undermine U.S. democratic processes, as evidenced by its interference in the 2016 presidential election, and Tehran has refined its tactics from indiscriminate attacks across tens of thousands of organizations to a laser-like focus on U.S. power and utility companies. The opportunity to wreak havoc on critical infrastructure while degrading public trust in democratic institutions is just the kind of attack that U.S. foes might dream up in an era in which adversaries are increasingly utilizing hybrid warfare techniques, blending information, technology and conventional means to achieve their objectives.
Handler say that weshould consider a possible attack along the lines of Russia’s 2015 cyberattack against Ukraine. The attack left more than 230,000 people without power for between one and six hours.
Disrupting power distribution at the right moment in the right portions of the U.S. grid, targeting a few select states or counties, could cause just enough disruption to bring on a level of chaos that would dwarf what happened in Iowa.
