Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Atlantic Council Trying to Secure Future US Elections

An influential US think tank has been teaming up with other institutions in order to help secure future US elections from manipulation.

Here is more from Reuters:

Hackers are joining forces with U.S. governors and academics in a new group aimed at preventing the manipulation of voter machines and computer systems to sway the outcome of future U.S. elections, a source familiar with the project said on Monday.
The anti-hacking coalition’s members include organizers of last summer’s Def Con hacking conference in Las Vegas, the National Governors Association and the Center for Internet Security, said the source, who asked not to be identified ahead of a formal announcement due to be made on Tuesday.
The Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank and several universities are also part of the project, the source said.
The coalition will be unveiled as Def Con organizers release a report describing vulnerabilities in voting machines and related technology that were uncovered in July.

The Atlantic Council has a Digital Forensics Research Lab (DFRLab) which, among other things, studies disinformation campaigns.

Today, the think tank is hosting an event for the release of a new report on cyber vulnerabilities in US election equipment, databases, and infrastructure.

RT, an international television network funded by the Russian government, recently called Atlantic Council "NATO's propaganda arm" and bashed a Sept. 26 event the think tank held entitled "Transatlantic Forum on Strategic Communications (Stratcom)," which discussed various disinformation campaigns.

More details will be coming soon.