DNC Tech Clips

From:BrownA@dnc.org To: TechClips@dnc.org Date: 2016-05-23 18:01 Subject: DNC Tech Clips

TECH CLIPS ________________________________ Hackers target presidential campaigns: US spy chief<http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-hackers-idUSKCN0Y929G> Dustin Volz and Mark Hosenball // Reuters U.S. presidential campaigns face threats from hackers bent on espionage and other activity more nefarious than mere political mischief, the office of U.S. National Intelligence Director James Clapper said on Wednesday, but did not provide details on specific intrusions. “We’re aware that campaigns and related organizations and individuals are targeted by actors with a variety of motivations - from philosophical differences to espionage - and capabilities - from defacements to intrusions,” Clapper's spokesman, Brian Hale, said in a statement, deferring to the FBI for details on specific incidents. Earlier, Clapper said the U.S. intelligence community had “already had some indications” of hacking attempts against presidential campaigns. US intelligence: Foreign hackers spying on campaigns<http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/05/18/us-intelligence-foreign-hackers-spying-on-campaigns.html> Associated Press The United States sees evidence that hackers, possibly working for foreign governments, are snooping on the presidential candidates, the nation's intelligence chief said Wednesday. Government officials are working with the campaigns to tighten security as the race for the White House intensifies. The activity follows a pattern set in the last two presidential elections. Hacking was rampant in 2008, according to U.S. intelligence officials, and both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were targets of Chinese cyberattacks four years later. Despite that history, cyber experts say neither Donald Trump's nor Hillary Clinton's campaign networks are secure enough to eliminate the risk. Big Data Plays Influential Role in Political Campaign Analytics<http://cmtoday.cmu.edu/technology_innovation/big-data-marketing-political-campaigns/> Melissa Silmore // Carnegie Mellon Today The stress is palpable for the six men and women huddled in a room crunching numbers as they rapidly compile election predictions. When it becomes clear their gubernatorial candidate is going to win, there's no time to cheer. They shift attention to other races. “Yeah, there’s no rest for our analytics team,” said Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Christopher Wegrzyn. He’s a co-founder of BlueLabs, a consulting firm “looking to make an impact for social good” — helping campaigns, nonprofits and others effectively reach their audiences. How an Eric Schmidt-Backed Startup May Help Hillary Clinton Get Elected<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-19/clinton-bets-on-tech-strategy-to-defeat-trump> Tim Higgins // Bloomberg After the 2012 election, when Mitt Romney’s vaunted, custom-built Orca get-out-the-vote system failed on Election Day, Republicans publicly promised that they’d close the technology gap with Democrats by 2016. Instead, the party has a candidate who doesn’t seem to think much of the data analytics operation pioneered by President Barack Obama. “I’ve always felt it was overrated,” Donald Trump told the Associated Press on May 10. “Obama got the votes much more so than his data processing machine. And I think the same is true with me.” Want to know who to vote for? IBM’s Watson will make an emotional decision for you<http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/08/want-to-know-who-to-vote-for-ibms-watson-elections-will-make-an-emotional-decision-for-you/> Sarah Buhr // TechCrunch Sad, mad, glad, confused about the presidential race so far? Well, if you are really lost on who to vote for, IBM may have a solution, depending on your mood. Watson Elections, one of the surprisingly few political applications for IBM’s supercomputer, debuted on stage this morning at TechCrunch’s Disrupt Hackathon in Brooklyn, New York to help us decided the best candidate fitting our feelings. If you are angry and disgusted right now, you may want to go for Donald Trump. A little less angry and just sadder fits a vote for Bernie Sanders. Clinton’s Tech Team Stumbles Toward Trump<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/clintons-tech-team-stumbles-toward-trump-223347> Darren Samuelsohn // Politico Hillary Clinton built her 2016 campaign around the Democratic Party’s most vaunted data geeks and online gurus, boasting of plans to “create the next big thing” in digital politics. But after failing to deliver the resounding win she wanted against Bernie Sanders, some Democrats are warning the Brooklyn boiler room against overconfidence in the matchup with Donald Trump’s decidedly low-tech campaign. In a series of interviews at the campaign’s New York headquarters, Clinton’s tech team conceded it was caught off-guard by Sanders, whose enterprise started miles behind in money and organization but has bested the front-runner at nearly every turn. A Trump campaign will only increase the Democrats’ advantage in data and analytics<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/05/20/a-trump-campaign-will-only-increase-the-democrats-advantage-in-data-and-analytics/> Daniel Kriess // Washington Post Donald Trump recently referred to political data as “overrated,” saying that “Obama got the votes much more so than his data processing machine, and I think the same is true with me.” It is undoubtedly true that political data is often over-hyped in campaign journalism. And Trump is right that the candidate on the ticket is more important than “data” at securing and turning out votes. However, what Trump misses — and what will be the Republican Party’s loss not only in 2016 but potentially in future campaigns — is that data helps campaigns be more efficient and effective.