“US security and intelligence officials as well as experts have expressed serious concerns over the recent rise in cyberattacks against the US and the possibility that foreign actors could use leaked information to negatively influence the general election in November.

While US intelligence officials and cybersecurity experts have said the recent much-publicised hack on the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s campaign could be linked to Russian intelligence services, the Kremlin has aggressively denied the allegations as absurd.“

Source: International Business Times

Since the DNC hacks came to light, everybody has gone paranoid with suspicions of Russia just like in the ‘good old times’ of the Cold War. Russia has become the main suspect, even though a few other countries could be added to the list of potential foreign ‘enemies’ of the US. Not to mention the fact that the Anonymous activist group, or various cyber criminals, could also be capable of such a job. Come to think of it, encrypting election campaigns for ransom could even be highly profitable.

All joking aside, I think any electronic election system could be equally easy to hack for anybody who was really interested in getting in. These systems are critical and for this reason they need to be protected, not just from politically motivated attacks, but from ALL kinds of threat. If an election system is vulnerable, it can easily undermine the stability of democracy.