By Illinois Radio Network
WASHINGTON – The head of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee says Illinois is an example for other states in how to handle an attack by hackers.
North Carolina Senator Richard Burr, who heads the U.S. Senate’s Intelligence Committee, said Illinois did the right thing when the state discovered a hack attempt at the State Board of Elections last year.
Burr said Illinois focused on IT infrastructure and fixing the problem.
“Illinois didn’t wait for the federal government to knock on the door and say ‘Hey, you’ve got a problem,’ ” Burr said. “You identified your problem, you began to remediate it, and at some point the federal government came in as a partner.”
Illinois State Board of Elections Director Steve Sandvoss testified before Burr and others on the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday that he’s confident in the integrity of Illinois’ voter files.
“The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that there is no ongoing malicious activity on State Board of Elections computer systems,” Sandvoss testified.
It was a year ago this week that Illinois discovered an attack on the State Board of Election’s computer system.
Sandvoss said some voter files were compromised but insists no votes were changed.
Burr said Illinois should be lauded for acknowledging the attack, both to voters and federal investigators.
“It is absolutely critical that we have not only a collaboration, but a communication between the federal government and the states as it relates to our voting systems,” Burr said. “If not I fear that there will be an attempt to nationalize [elections] and that is not the answer.”
Burr said Illinois may be the model for other states on how to handle a hack.
