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Georgia Secretary of State: DHS Attacked Our Firewall

The New American ^ | 09 December 2016 | C. Mitchell Shaw

Posted on by VitacoreVision

On Thursday, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ask why [it] was attempting to breach the firewall protecting his computer infrastructure. The letter also drew attention to the fact that under 18 U.S.C. 1030, attempting to gain access or exceeding authorized access to protected computer systems is illegal."

In the weeks and months leading up to the elections, DHS and other federal agencies expressed growing concerns over the threat of Russian hackers penetrating government computers. Many of those concerns were based in the oft-repeated claim that the hacking of the databases and e-mail servers of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was the work of Russian hackers. That claim has never been proved, and many experts have said it is not the case. In fact, Julian Assange  the founder and public face of WikiLeaks, which published the DNC documents  flatly denied that the source was Russian.

Based on the accepted wisdom that the hacks came from Russia  whether from individual hackers or directed by Moscow  DHS issued a series of recommendations to the states for protecting their voter registration and election systems against attacks aimed at hacking the election. DHS also offered its assistance in providing cyber hygiene scans or penetration testing before the elections. As Kemp reminded DHS in his letter:

Georgia was one of the only few states that did not seek DHS assistance with cyber hygiene scans or penetration testing before this years election. We declined this assistance due to having already implemented the security measures suggested by DHS.

It appears that  in keeping with its heavy-handed approach in general  DHS was unwilling to take no for an answer. On November 15  days after the election  an IP address associated with the Department of Homeland Security made an unsuccessful attempt to penetrate the Georgia Secretary of States firewall, according to Kemps letter. Kemp also reminded DHS of the fact that its attempted penetration of the firewall was both unwanted and unsuccessful:

At no time has my office agreed to or permitted DHS to conduct penetration testing or security scans of our network. Moreover, your Department has not contacted my office since this unsuccessful incident to alert us of any security event that would require testing or scanning of our network. This is especially odd and concerning since I serve on the Election Cyber Security Working Group that your office created.

Kemps letter also makes the point that one of his responsibilities as secretary of state is to protect Georgians data against the type of event that occurred on November 15 and that since he takes that responsibility seriously, he has contracted with a global leader in monitored security services to provide immediate responses to these types of threats. He wrote:

As you may know, the Georgia Secretary of States office maintains the statewide voter registration data base containing the personal information of over 6.5 million Georgians. In addition, we hold the information for over 800,000 corporate entities and over 500,000 licensed or registered professionals.

As Georgias Secretary of State, I take cyber security very seriously. That is why I have contracted with a global leader in monitored security services to provide immediate responses to these types of threats. This firm analyzes more than 180 billion events a day globally across a 5,000+ customer base which includes many Fortune 500 companies. Clearly, this type of resource and service is necessary to protect Georgians' data against the type of event that occurred on November 15.

It is noteworthy that Kemp sees this attempted intrusion by DHS as a threat. If DHS were correct and Georgia were in need of DHS assistance, it would seem that DHS would have succeeded in penetrating the firewall protecting the Georgia secretary of states computer infrastructure. Since DHS failed to hack into those systems, it is fair to assume that Russian hackers do not pose a credible threat to those systems, either.

Perhaps the only thing more embarrassing to an overreaching federal agency than telling it you dont need its help is proving it by preventing them from forcing it on you.

This case illustrates the value of a free-market approach. By contracting with a global leader in monitored security services (a private firm), Kemp was able to protect Georgians data against even an attack launched by DHS. By demonstrating the value of a free-market approach and the fact that states can handle these matters themselves without assistance from the federal government, Kemp also demonstrated the lack of value of DHS and its heavy-handed approach.

That is just peachy.



TOPICS:

Crime/Corruption

Government

News/Current Events

Politics/Elections

KEYWORDS:

dhs

georgia

hackers

homelandsecurity

russia

searchfirewall

The Russians! Oh wait, Department of Homeland Security?



To: VitacoreVision

Was someone testing the system? or trying to insert false data into the system to back up fake news charges of “Russian hacking” Wonder if they’ve done this with other states?



by 2 posted onby silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)

To: VitacoreVision

False flag cyber attack? Kinky! And naughty....



by 3 posted onby SERKIT ("Blazing Saddles" explains it all.......)

To: VitacoreVision

by 4 posted onby DoughtyOne (jcon40, "Are we be coming into the age of Sanity?")

To: VitacoreVision

The air safety portion of DHS should be privatized and divorced from the government. The remainder should be turned over to the FBI. Anything that does not fit those categories should be done by another group, if at all.



To: VitacoreVision

That’s a lot of words from the GA SOS. Should’ve simply said... “What you did is illegal. You are under arrest. Please surrender at the nearest Georgia State Patrol office.”



To: VitacoreVision

Anybody remember this story... “Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are deadlocked in Georgia with less than three weeks until Election Day, according to a new Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll...” I remember at the time thinking, “What kind of monkey business are the dems up to this time.” Perhaps now we know.



by 7 posted onby proudpapa (Trump Pence earned it.)

To: VitacoreVision

The Department of Homeland Security is coming, the Department of Homeland Security is coming ...



by 8 posted onby TigersEye (Congratulations, President Donald J. Trump! - Let's MAGA!!!)

To: VitacoreVision

Georgia Secretary of State: DHS Attacked Our Firewall Leading up to the election the media tried to portray Georgia as a "toss up", when almost everything pointed to a clear Trump win. Even on election night when Trump amassed a huge lead with almost all precincts reporting, the networks were slow and reluctant to call the state for him. Could it be that the DHS thought they could hack the system and steal Georgia for Madam Hillary Benghazi?



To: VitacoreVision

Ordered by Obama no doubt. Then they can say the Russians did it. How did we ever get such corrupt people in office?



To: VitacoreVision

Maybe the Russians hacked our system to prevent the DHS, Obama and his minions from hacking Trump’s votes???LOL Well nothing makes much sense from these people anyway.



To: proudpapa

Second that, papa



To: VitacoreVision

Obambi and the libs are yakking on about Russia, when it’s our own federal government that is the problem. Kudos to Georgia and their internet security contractor for spotting this.



by 13 posted onby meyer (There is no political solution to this troubling evolution...)

To: VitacoreVision

My thought is every state that allowed the DHS access to their state database has given all their information unwittingly to Obama and the Democrats. I hope Trump and the states can come up with a way to thwart a big steal in the midterm election



by 14 posted onby weston (SO HERE'S THE STORY: As far as I'm concerned, it's Christ or nothing!)

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