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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.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Friday August 07 2020, @06:35PM (1 child)
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.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday August 07 2020, @06:59PM
Our Representative Democracy passes a law forbidding it.
There are many ways to apply leverage to a foreign government. Also, you can punish the companies that knowingly accept that illegal campaign contribution money.
Only because you are actively ignoring it. SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE UNITED STATES SENATE ON RUSSIAN ACTIVE MEASURES CAMPAIGNS AND INTERFERENCE IN THE 2016 U.S. ELECTION VOLUME 1: RUSSIAN EFFORTS AGAINST ELECTION [senate.gov]