A recent cyber attack in Contra Costa County libraries has officials looking closely at how to keep the upcoming elections safe. Sharon Katsuda reports.
A recent cyber attack in Contra Costa County libraries has officials looking closely at how to keep the upcoming elections safe.
“Law enforcement says not to give many details, but the hackers requested ransom and we didn’t pay it,” said Brooke Converse from Contra Costa County Libraries.
Now, voters will have to see how the story unfolds for the upcoming elections.
“They can certainly undermine people’s trust and confidence,” said Contra Costa County Elections Department’s assistant registrar Scott Konopasek.
Employees are now trained to be on the lookout for malicious emails. The department has already been a target.
“The two incidents directly affected us,” said Konopasek. “The source came from other nation states … Russia and Iran.”
The department said computers that count the votes are independent and exist only in the building so the assistant registrar says people’s votes are very safe.
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Still, the FBI and other agencies, are trying to solve the mystery of why the Contra Costa County libraries and election department are targeted.
Meanwhile, the elections department says it is trying to do its part educating employees about being very careful about clicking on emails.
