Arizona voter registration system targeted again by hackers
Sep 22, 2017, 2:59 PM | Updated: 4:06 pm
(Public Domain Photo)
PHOENIX — Arizona’s voter registration system was targeted a second time last year by hackers, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.
The agency informed 21 states this week — including Arizona — that their voter registration systems were targeted by possible Russian agents, but few of them were actually breached.
DHS has let us know that the Russian government targeted our voter registration systems in 2016. I'll receive a detailed briefing soon.
— Michele Reagan (@SecretaryReagan) September 22, 2017
Most states were unaware of the hackers’ attempts to gain access to information. It was unknown if Arizona was one of those states.
Spokesman Matt Roberts said Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan was expected to receive a detailed briefing on the incident early next month.
Other states that were targeted included Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Another group of hackers were able to work their way into Arizona’s voter database last summer.
Reagan told CNBC the hackers gained access after a worker opened an email attachment. She said she was told it appeared the email originated in Russia, but that was not certain.
Reagan said she was alerted to the hack after the Federal Bureau of Investigation found a credential — a username and login — for the state system for sale on the dark web.
“It was really frightening and scary considering we’re in charge of almost four million people’s information,” Reagan said.
Reagan declined earlier this year to give voter information to a federal commission looking into potential voting fraud in the past election because of security concerns.
“All we’re trying to do is make sure that Arizona voter data is safe,” she told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Reality Check with Darin Damme.
KTAR News’ Griselda Zetino and the Associated Press contributed to this report.