Are midterms protected from foreign hacking?

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in 2016 that Russia ran a program of hacking and disinformation to interfere in the elections. Illinois was one of the 21 states that was targeted and breached.

On Feb. 16, a U.S. special counsel indicted 13 Russians and three companies, including St. Petersburg-based internet Research Agency, known for its trolling on social media, with charges of tampering in the campaign.

This has been a serious crime and enact of covert warfare by Russia. This has not been a witch hunt.

The intelligence community also has warned that Moscow likely will employ similar attacks in the midterms. Unfortunately, many of the vulnerabilities that existed then continue to undermine our election infrastructure today.

A few months ago Illinois was awarded a $13.2 million grant aimed at stopping vote tampering. The grant lets Illinois use the funding to address election security priorities, including:

• Replacing outdated voting machines that do not provide a voter verified paper record;

• Implementing a postelection audit system that provides a high-level of confidence in the accuracy of final vote tallies;

• Upgrading election computer systems to address cyber vulnerabilities;

• Facilitating cyber security training for the state chief election official's office and local election officials;

• Implementing established cyber security best practices for election systems; and

• Funding other activities that will improve the security of elections for federal office.

The midterm is less than five months away. Let's hope Illinois is doing something to protect our election security.

Mike Brown

Mount Prospect