DEF CON Safe Mode Voting Village - Cable, Zaheer - Heightened Election Sec Risks Amidst a Pandemic

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, countless aspects of American life have been impacted, including our elections. Accommodations for the pandemic include an unprecedented shift towards absentee balloting across the United States, as well as drastically reduced in-person voting options. While we cannot predict the state of the pandemic come November, it is clear that elections will operate differently, constrained by health concerns around in-person voting,reduced polling place staff, and massive budget shortfalls. Such large-scale change will necessarily impact election security, as new attack surfaces open due to states relying on rapidly expanded infrastructure. With political polarization at a high, it is crucial that elections remain safe and secure despite the pandemic, and that American citizens believe their elections credible. In this talk, we will explore the areas of election infrastructure that are changing, and new associated security concerns based on our work at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).