Microsoft fights against cyber attacks to voting systems
Microsoft is working on the development of ElectionGuard, which protects voting systems to ensure democracy in these processes
The voting systems are not exempt from cyber attacks, which has led Microsoft to develop its ElectionGuard system, which protects and makes voting more accessible in democratic elections.
Microsoft has made a demonstration of ElectionGuard in Aspen Security Forum (United States). It was installed on a surface tablet, with the Windows kiosk mode enabled – limits access to a single application – and linked to a standard printer and an Xbox Adaptive Controller to expand accessibility.
With this demonstration, the company sought to show “how it is possible to make voting more accessible for people with disabilities and more affordable for local governments while increasing security,” as explained in a statement.
The importance of a secure voting system is reinforced with data from the company itself, collected by the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center. As they report, last year they notified almost 10,000 clients that had been attacked by state actors.
Of the attacks, 84 percent was directed against the company’s customers, while 16% did so against the clients’ personal accounts. Most of the state attacks had originated in Iran, North Korea and Russia, as detailed by Microsoft.
“Governments and civil society have important roles to play, but the technology industry also has a responsibility to help defend democracy,” said the technology company.
K. Tovar
Source: dpa
