FBI confirms hackers worked way into Arizona voter database
Aug 29, 2016, 11:02 AM | Updated: 2:27 pm
PHOENIX — The FBI uncovered evidence earlier this summer that hackers breached Arizona’s state election database but no voter information was compromised, state officials said.
Matt Roberts with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office said the staff was notified by the Arizona Department of Administration that the FBI had found to a credible foreign threat to the registration system — a virus accidentally downloaded by a worker.
Voters’ information was safe, Roberts said.
The state of Illinois was also affected, Yahoo News reported.
The story also reported that in the Illinois hack at least 20,000 voters’ personal information was stolen.
“We generally don’t talk about our security measures we have in place. We did take the voter registration system down at that time to perform a review of that system,” Roberts said.
“What had occurred is that a user in one of the counties had downloaded a virus which was then displayed online.
“To make sure we didn’t have anything wrong with the system, the Arizona Department of Administration cyber security performed a review of the voter registration system and found evidence of any malware or controlled software within the system itself.”
Roberts said the office was confident in the voter registration system and the security systems.
