The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) partnered with the nation’s lead cyber agency to aid election officials in prioritizing and managing risks to election infrastructure through an online tool.
The Election Risk Profile Tool, released by Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the EAC, is aimed at creating a tailored risk assessment for state and local election officials, providing them with recommendations to increase security.
“The Risk Profile Tool serves as an important security enhancement for network protection,” said EAC Chairman Ben Hovland, in a statement.
Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., recently told the story of a part-time election official in his state’s Oswego County with no cybersecurity training who received 1,672 directives from the information sharing and analysis centers (ISACs).
“Together with our partners at the EAC, we are constantly looking for ways to make the process of mapping out these risks easier and widely available for all of our partners,” said CISA Director Chris Krebs. The Election Risk Profile “is yet another tool to help support election officials to protect the 2020 elections and beyond.”
Rep. Katko introduced a bill last month to provide additional election-specific IT support to state and local election officials. The bill, cosponsored by Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., does not appear to have a Senate companion.
