Attempted breach of Ohio county election network draws FBI and state scrutiny
Source: Washington Post
Federal and state investigators are examining an attempt to breach an Ohio countys election network that bears striking similarities to an incident in Colorado earlier this year, when government officials helped an outsider gain access to the county voting system in an effort to find fraud. Data obtained in both instances were distributed at an August cyber symposium on election fraud hosted by MyPillow executive Mike Lindell, an ally of former president Donald Trump who has spent millions of dollars promoting false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.
The attempted breach in Ohio occurred on May 4 inside the county office of John Hamercheck (R), chairman of the Lake County Board of Commissioners, according to two individuals with knowledge of the incident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigations. State and county officials said no sensitive data were obtained, but they determined that a private laptop was plugged into the county network in Hamerchecks office, and that the routine network traffic captured by the computer was circulated at the same Lindell conference as the data from the Colorado breach.
Together, the incidents in Ohio and Colorado point to an escalation in attacks on the nations voting systems by those who have embraced Trumps false claims that the 2020 election was riddled with fraud. Now, some Trump loyalists pushing for legal challenges and partisan audits are also targeting local officials in a bid to gain access to election systems moves that themselves could undermine election security. An FBI spokeswoman confirmed Thursday that the bureau is investigating the incident in Lake County but declined to comment further. Investigators are trying to determine whether someone on the fifth floor of the Lake County government building improperly accessed the computer network and whether any laws were violated.
Investigators with the office of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) believe a government official appears to have facilitated the attempted breach of the election network in Lake County, a spokesman for LaRose said. Asked in a telephone interview whether he knew of the attempted breach or participated in it, Hamercheck said he was advised not to discuss the investigation. Im aware of no criminal activity, Hamercheck said, and added: I have absolute confidence in our board of elections and our IT people.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/attempted-breach-ohio-election/2021/11/19/12417a4c-488c-11ec-b8d9-232f4afe4d9b_story.html
Ford_Prefect
(7,901 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,101 posts)and "someone else" took advantage. However it seems Cyber Ninjas is too incompetent to be "stealth" about it and some of these loon Counties are all too happy to illegally hand over stuff to the likes of them anyway.
Bayard
(22,100 posts)Ford_Prefect
(7,901 posts)Bayard
(22,100 posts)MissMillie
(38,560 posts)... that
a) the only illegal, fraudulent access to the voting systems has been attempted/gained by THEM, and
b) is detectable. (Meaning, it doesn't happen w/o someone finding out about it).
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,035 posts)Republicans are great projectionists.
tishaLA
(14,176 posts)who believe the election was stolen to higher and higher positions. Lots of states might end up with secretaries of state who will be willing to look the other way or even encourage breaches under the guise of transparency.