Page 39 - Cyber Warnings

So stealing votes or trying to slow or stop election-day voting in certain districts is not very likely
to alter the election. Especially across the Presidential and Congressional races there is just too
much scrutiny and knowledge about the way the voting works, making it very difficult to
manipulate the elections this way.

The mostly likely way a third party could try to steal the election is not by altering votes that
have been cast, but by actually convincing people to cast their votes differently. Hackers and
political activists will try to create what politicians and political writers call an “October Surprise.”

For example, consider the effect that damaging or embarrassing information can have on a
candidate.

By timing the release of damaging information correctly, election-stealers can try to influence
the electorate in the last moments before they cast their votes. To a degree, this kind of activity
has always been a part of the election process. What is different now?

In today’s email-centric and social media-driven world, exploitable information is saved
electronically, which makes it vulnerable to attack and compromise – it is only a hacked email
account or server away from exposure.

It is already happening.

The recent DNC email hack, released through WikiLeaks, revealed compromising information
about the Democratic Party leadership’s private views of the Clinton and Sanders primary
campaigns.

Although this information had been stolen many months before, WikiLeaks chose to release the
information just hours before the start of the Democratic National Convention, when it would
have maximum effect on the final nominating process.

The result? A chaotic opening to the Democratic National Convention. WikiLeaks has promised
that they have more information to be released. Look for that news in late October!

But even without compromising information, third-parties can wreak havoc on the electoral
process.

Think back to Tuesday March 1, 2016 -- “Super Tuesday.” On this day, Democratic voters
across eleven states and territories would vote between Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie
Sanders.

During the prior weeks, the Sanders campaign was capturing headlines and igniting populist
enthusiasm. The Sanders campaign desperately sought a legitimizing event, an event that could
change the trajectory of their campaign.

At the same time, establishment Republicans were eager to slow down the Clinton campaign,
with several Republican insiders preferring that Sanders would best Clinton in the Super
Tuesday primaries and possibly in the primaries overall.

39 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – September 2016 Edition
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