It’s a million-dollar industry that can attack anywhere at any time. Just last week the Hamilton County Clerk's Office fell victim to a malware attack.
The Texas Tribune reports the attack was embedded in a word document sent through an email, with one of the subject lines reading official precinct results.
Hackers are getting smarter, more calculated, and careful, which is definitely a concern especially with the upcoming election. However, one IT expert says you don’t just have to be a governing body to be targeted.
“First, it’s going to happen. It’s not really a matter of if it’s going to happen it’s a when for most people because it’s propagating really rapidly. If one isn’t concerned about it, they’re just sticking their hands in the sand, you should be concerned. There’s a whole business enterprise behind these hackers and scammers. It's very profitable to them and that’s why they do it, “said Skip Carruth.
For years Carruth, founder of Lighthouse IT Incorporated, has been combating hackers from networks big and small. Carruth believes the most common attack is called a phishing scam where the hackers send you and email, with some kind of malware that gives them access to your network
“It’ll say something like jpr. or .ru which is from Russia or Japan, right. It’s not really you. It’s just made to make it look like you," he said.
All your email contacts, passwords, and usernames all up for grabs. Carruth says having some type of spam security and seeking professional help is essential, especially for governing bodies.
“What a small enterprise repair shop in whip Bell County needs to protect their elections information is very different, so it has to be tailored to what they need it’s not a one solution fits all,” said Carruth.
“They are very much on top of security,” said Interim Elections Administrator Matthew Dutton.
He knows the threat is out there, but Dutton feels their system is solid.
“The votes from all the different machines, everything is handled offline. No results are transferred through the Internet or anything like that,” he said.
Dutton says then Bell County security team is always on alert, combing through emails and performing system checks whether its election season or just another day.
“You know they have resources that they can scour basically the black with the dark web and see if any email accounts within have been tampered with, you know. They’re always on top of it. They’re always scanning. They’re always looking,” said Dutton.
As far as mail-in ballots are concerned, Dutton says those are kept under lock and key to prevent anyone from tampering with votes.
Though we are always looking for convenient ways to do things, Carruth says never have the same password for more than one account because if a hacker does get their hands on your information, they will have access to everything. He also advises having some type of firewall or scam software to fight off hackers.
