Assessing the Risk, Damage After Illinois’ Voter Rolls Hacked


The Illinois State Board of Elections’ initial report on a data breach that took place between June and July was that 200,000 Illinois voters information was hacked, possibly by a foreign cyberattacker. That number has since been downscaled to 90,000. Some 700 records were definitively viewed and another 86,000 records are strongly suspected of being viewed.

A press release about the hack issued last month by the Illinois State Board of Elections reads in part:

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“If a voter’s records were viewed, hackers could have obtained the voter’s name, address and date of birth. If the voter provided a phone number, email address, driver’s license number or the last four digits of his or her social security number when registration occurred, that information may also have been viewed. Even if a voter’s record was viewed, the Board is sure no records have been altered or changed in any way.”

The breach was discovered at the same time that Russian hackers targeted Arizona’s election system. These breaches come in the wake of a major hack into the Democratic National Committee’s computer system, in which leaked emails led to the ouster of DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on the eve of Hillary Clinton’s nomination.

So what information exactly was exposed here in Illinois? And is it possible that records were erased or modified?

Joining Eddie Arruza with the latest news is Ken Menzel, the Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman.


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