Vertical Markets

Election interference surveyed

by Mark Rowe

A Eurobarometer survey ahead of the May 2019 European elections suggests that most, 61pc worry that elections can be manipulated by cyber means. A majority of EU citizens are worried that disinformation campaigns, data breaches and cyberattacks generally will interfere with electoral processes. Some 59pc worry about foreign actors and criminal groups influencing elections; and 67pc worry that personal data left online could be used to target the political messages they see.

Despite concerns, a majority, 58pc, of those asked felt that their country was doing what’s necessary against fraud at elections. Only a minority, 36pc, were satisfied with the fight against corruption; likewise only 40pc were satisfied with the fight against disinformation in the media, and 44pc with the extent to which political parties take their interests into account.

As for the way to tackle the cyber threats, the European Commission which released the study suggested introducing more transparency to online social media platforms, including on clearly indicating who is behind online advertisement; giving equal opportunities to all political parties to access online services to compete for voters’ attention; giving a right to reply for candidates or political parties on social media; and introducing the same silence period online as already exists for traditional media. For the public opinion survey in full visit the EC website.

Comment

Laurie Mercer, a security engineer at HackerOne said: “Awareness of cyber attacks and breaches has never been greater. It can seem like the number and skill of cybercriminals is higher than the defenders. Confidence in Government IT systems is low. British citizens are worried that their data will be breached. That said, it is difficult to justify this level of concern when thinking of the paper-based elections that we hold in the UK. During British elections, voters mark ballot papers with a pen in a voting booth in a polling station, which are later counted manually. The process is physical: there is a risk of social engineering, but it is really quite difficult to ‘hack’ a paper-based election to the extent that the result can be affected.

“It is inevitable that at some point the British election process will digitise. Imagine if you could vote from home. Digital technology including biometrics and digital ledgers hold great promise for improving the process of voting. Digital transformation could reduce the cost of holding elections and referenda to the point where people could be regularly polled for their opinion on the big decisions that affect their daily lives. It is important that as we adopt the technology necessary to hold elections digitally, security takes the prime position. Any digital transformation of British elections needs to ensure that the security of the process increases and does not regress.”

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