News

The UK’s elections watchdog, the Electoral Commission, has disclosed that it experienced a “complex cyber-attack” that potentially affected millions of voters. The attack, carried out by unidentified “hostile actors,” resulted in unauthorized access to copies of the electoral registers dating back to August 2021. The hackers also breached the commission’s emails and control systems, although the attack went unnoticed until October of last year. The commission has urged individuals to be vigilant about unauthorized use of their data.

According to the commission, the accessed registers contained the names and addresses of individuals in the UK who registered to vote between 2014 and 2022. The data of overseas voters included names without addresses. However, the personal data of individuals registered anonymously for safety or security reasons was not compromised.

The commission estimates that each year’s register contains details of approximately 40 million people, making it difficult to determine the exact number of potentially affected individuals. It clarified that the personal data held on its email servers posed a low risk to individuals. However, there is a possibility that the data in the body of an email or attachment could be vulnerable.

The commission confirmed that the hackers were unable to modify or delete any information within the electoral registers themselves, which are maintained by registration officers across the country. Information regarding donations and loans to political parties and registered campaigners remains unaffected.

The Electoral Commission has taken steps to enhance the security of its systems, including updating login requirements, the alert system, and firewall policies, to prevent future attacks. The Information Commissioner’s Office, responsible for data protection in the UK, is currently conducting an urgent investigation into the incident. The commission expressed its understanding of public concern and extended apologies to those affected by the breach.

This cyber attack, though not directly impacting any elections or altering registration status, highlights the severity of the breach. It serves as a reminder to supporters of the UK’s manual voting system of the potential risks associated with e-voting. The prolonged period of undetected access suggests that the hackers were conducting a thorough exploration of the UK’s democratic process to identify potential vulnerabilities.

Source: BBC News

The post UK Electoral Commission Reveals Cyber Attack on Voter Data appeared first on satProviders.