New research warns that the lack of sufficient staff and a proper budget is jeopardizing the security of this year’s US elections. This risk is exacerbated by an increase in the number of threat actors and the tools at their disposal.
An Arctic Wolf report that surveyed 130 U.S. state and local government leaders, including those responsible for IT and cybersecurity systems, found that many local governments are operating with a limited workforce that is “lean” between the overload of their daily activities. and the extra work involved in preparing for the elections.
As a result, more than half of respondents feel completely unprepared (or only ‘somewhat’ prepared) to detect and recover from election-related cyber incidents.
Abuse of AI
Financing is also a problem. More than a third (36%) say their budget is “insufficient” compared to the risks they expect during the 2024 election cycle.
This risk is further increased by the increase in the number of threat actors, both national and otherwise, and the tools at their disposal. Nearly half of survey respondents (47.1%) expect a “significant increase in attacks” compared to four years ago. Their tools have also become more dangerous, especially AI-powered tools.
Using AI tools, hackers can create credible fake content (e.g. deepfakes), generate misleading stories, manipulate the media and even influence election results. “By analyzing massive data sets, threat actors can gain insight into a person’s political leanings, preferences and even recent online activities, allowing them to create deceptive messages that appear trustworthy, with the aim of tricking individuals into disclosing sensitive information,” the researchers concluded . .