Senate Select Intelligence Committee

JUNE 21, 2017 | CLIP OF TESTIMONY FROM HEARING ON RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN U.S. ELECTIONS

Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Michigan,
Dr. J. Alex Halderman.

PDF of Professor Halderman's prepared testimony

Full Senate Hearing on C-SPAN

PEOPLE IN THIS CLIP

• J. Alex Halderman
  Professor, University of Michigan, NEDC consultant
• Angus King
  U.S. Senator (Class 1)[I] Maine

Original link and transcript: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4674685/sen-angus-king-j-alex-halderman

Sen. Angus King and J. Alex Halderman
King: What are the three most important things to do for states to protect against an attack we know is coming?
Halderman: Use paper ballots. Check enough of those after the election, using a risk-limited audit. Make sure we're increasing the level of general security practices.
King: A cyberattack on voting-machine vendors before machines go out to the states, is that a risk?
Halderman: I would be concerned about that. The small number of vendors means our system in practice is not as decentralized as it appears. 

Mark R. Warner U.S. Senator (Class 2)[D] Virginia

Warner and Halderman: Election systems are only as strong as their weakest link. Those 21 state officials may not even have been notified that someone was "rattling the doorknobs" to check if their election system was accessible. A hacker could disrupt a single jurisdiction in a state, wipe that ledger clean and invalidate not just that local election but also the results at the congressional level, the state, and ultimately the nation. We are only as strong as our weakest link.