Counties required to adopt security system
By MARY MURPHY
Washington State Journal
OLYMPIA – Under a bill Secretary of State Steve Hobbs endorsed, all counties are required to install “Albert Systems,” a technology that notifies counties when there is an attempted cybersecurity attack.
Even though ballot-counting machines are not connected to the Internet, election data is often circulated on Internet communication channels. Technology like the Albert System can help protect the security of county records by monitoring any attempt to manipulate, intercept, or tamper with data transmitted through these channels.
While 36 of 39 counties across the state already use this system, the counties that don’t have expressed concern about requiring this technology. Lincoln County officials, for example, spoke to its use of the Albert System and its potential flaws.
“Lincoln County became a victim of a ransomware attack in 2020,” Rob Coffman, Lincoln County Commissioner, said. “At the time, it had Albert Systems monitoring the county network. That attack brought the county to its knees for months, costing tens of thousands of dollars.”
Coffman said the third-party non-profit which runs Albert Systems, the Center for Internet Security, never notified the county of the attack.
The version of the bill that passed requires counties to install the Albert System specifically. “We all want secure elections,” Tom Gaines, Grant County Commissioner, said. “We all want to make sure that the people in our communities know that their data is safe, but we shouldn’t be forced to put something into our data center that sits outside our firewall, that we’re not allowed to ask about, and that we don’t get a dashboard to see what’s going back and forth.”
Others, however, say this legislation is necessary and timely.
“We are under threat from seen and unseen vulnerabilities within our election systems, and in Washington State,” prime sponsor, Sen. Joe Nguyễn, D-White Center, said. “Thanks to the leadership of our secretary of state, we figure by example. But we are not immune to the dangers that cast a shadow over the safety of our own votes.”
Nguyễn…
