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House Members Plan Election Hacking Demonstration

Katko and Quigley have legislation to create a federally backed hacking competition

The House will host a voting system hacking demonstration next week.  (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
The House will host a voting system hacking demonstration next week.  (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Two House members are planning to host a demonstration of a voting system hacking next week.

Republican Rep. John Katko of New York and Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois are leading the event on Wednesday, Sept. 26, which will feature the director of the University of Michigan’s Center for Computer Security and Society, J. Alex Halderman.

“Last year, the American people learned that Russia targeted as many as 39 state election systems in the lead-up to the 2016 elections. These malicious hackers were able to access databases containing sensitive information such as names, dates of birth, driver’s licenses, and partial Social Security numbers,” Katko and Quigley said in a joint statement. “While we were fortunate that the Russians did not tamper with the vote counting process this time around, there is no guarantee that they will not try in 2018 or beyond.”

The two members have legislation that’s designed to set up an award system for people in the cyber security space who catch election security vulnerabilities. It also would set up a competition with federal backing for election hacking.

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