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posted by chromas on Friday August 07 2020, @02:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the votehack dept.

U.S. Offers Reward of $10M for Info Leading to Discovery of Election Meddling:

The U.S. government is concerned about foreign interference in the 2020 election, so much so that it will offer a reward of up to $10 million for anyone providing information that could lead to tracking down potential cybercriminals aiming to sabotage the November vote.

The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, overseen by the Diplomatic Security Service, will pay for info that can identify or locate someone workingwith[sic] or for a foreign government “for the purpose of interfering with U.S. elections through certain illegal cyber activities,” according to a release posted on the department’s website.

The reward covers anyone seeking to interfere with an election at the federal, state or local level by violating or even aiding the violation of a U.S. law against computer fraud and abuse, according to the department.

“The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030, criminalizes unauthorized computer intrusions and other forms of fraud related to computers,” according to the release. “Among other offenses, the statute prohibits unauthorized accessing of computers to obtain information and transmit it to unauthorized recipients.”

The department is encouraging anyone with information on foreign interference in U.S. elections to contact them via their website or contact a U.S. Regional Security Officer at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

[...] [Voting machine-maker Election Systems & Software ] ES&S said that its formally released policy applies to all digital assets owned and operated by ES&S – including corporate IT networks and public-facing websites.

No word on rewards for non-foreign interference.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Friday August 07 2020, @02:24AM (6 children)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Friday August 07 2020, @02:24AM (#1032652) Journal

    So what's to stop Russia from interfering, throwing their hackers under the bus, then collecting the reward?

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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @02:59AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @02:59AM (#1032670)

    Better question [extends pinky finger to mouth] -- What's to stop me?

    There are a ton of freelancer sites that specialize in foreign talent.

  • (Score: 0, Troll) by hemocyanin on Friday August 07 2020, @09:10AM (4 children)

    by hemocyanin (186) on Friday August 07 2020, @09:10AM (#1032802) Journal

    What's to stop them? Oh, maybe just that the Russians are all a fantasy Democrats invoked with full faith and credit of 90% of the media so that they would have to do zero self-reflection?

    You know, The Democrats could consider that maybe it isn't everyone else who is the issue when they give us a warmongering job exporter wall street whore for 2016 and a segregationist octogenarian with a rape allegation and dementia for 2020. That's seriously the best they could do?

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Friday August 07 2020, @04:26PM (3 children)

      by bzipitidoo (4388) on Friday August 07 2020, @04:26PM (#1032978) Journal

      Oh, I think the Russian interference is real. However, it pales in significance to the much greater interference from domestic sources. I am especially troubled by reports that the DNC both engineered Hillary's victory over Bernie in the primaries, and helped Trump win the Republican primaries figuring he'd be such an odious candidate that even a corporate shill candidate could beat him. If so, they were wrong, as it turned out. There was also the matter of James Comey bringing up Hillary's emails, again, in the weeks before the vote.

      Another big problem is that a lot of campaign finance is in the dark, thanks to Citizens United. Who is contributing, and what do they really want? I expect its sordid corruption, nothing more. Damn the larger picture, the "donor" wants huge gifts such as antisocial legislation that favors them, and juicy contracts and sinecures, in exchange for the contribution. For example, the tax prep industry lobbies to keep income tax as painful and complicated as possible so that tax payers are all but forced to pay them to fill out the tax forms. Big Pharma wants to maintain and expand their racket, and ban prescription drugs from Canada. Wall Street always wants fewer rules, the better to rip off small investors, municipalities, pension plans, and the like. Gun manufacturers want to scare more people into buying more weapons, for self-defense, of course. And they all want others to pay all the costs. That's the kind of crap that really got Trump elected: shared irresponsibility.

      • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday August 07 2020, @05:00PM (2 children)

        by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday August 07 2020, @05:00PM (#1032993) Journal

        Americans are allowed to participate in American elections. Foreign governments are not. If they're buying astroturfers and/or ads that is a crime.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Friday August 07 2020, @06:35PM (1 child)

          by bzipitidoo (4388) on Friday August 07 2020, @06:35PM (#1033077) Journal

          In this ever smaller and more connected world, that strikes me as quaint. Who forbids foreign governments from influencing elections? What's the democracy going to do about it, complain to the U.N.? Declare war? Quibble over whether the methods were ethical or not? I really don't see any problem with a foreign nation running a mere advertisement campaign on behalf of their preferred candidate, though I am not aware of any attempts to do so.

          Trying to rig the election is a problem, but if that is possible, we should be asking ourselves why. We can make vote tallying reasonably secure, but it seems there are many who would rather it not be as secure as it could be. Backdoors and loopholes can be used by anyone who knows about them, regardless of who put them there and why.