Virginia To Upgrade Voting Machines. Hopefully Other States Follow Suit

The 2016 United States presidential election was an ugly one for multiple reasons--chief among them the accusation that hacked voting machines could have altered the outcome of the election significantly. Thankfully, there are steps being taken to alleviate the worries that third parties might alter the outcome of such important events.

One state that has been taking measures to keep hackers out of their affairs is Virginia, which has recently made the choice to phase out direct-recording electronic voting machines with those that can produce paper documents. Furthermore, Virginia has introduced legislation that will eliminate touch-screen voting devices by November 7th. This is the date when voters will decide on who their next governor will be, among other political positions.

Politico reports that Governor McAuliffe requested legislation which would provide funds to purchase new voting hardware, but it was initially denied. That was two years ago. Now, however, they have little choice but to upgrade away from their current systems, as the machines used currently will no longer be certified.

The Board of Elections has recommended that other states follow suit with this decision, but who can say whether they will or not? It’s easy to suggest that paper ballots retain the authenticity required of important elections, but counting paper ballots is a time-consuming process that we wouldn’t blame anyone for wanting to automate with more advanced technology. Still, the risk of using technology to do the dirty work is a risky one, as you are placed in a position where hackers can easily influence the data contained by the election system.

In a way, your business is no different. While it makes sense to have physical documents in the office for certain reasons, it makes even more sense to have these documents backed up in an online environment. Unfortunately, the same risks that plague voting systems can exist in your technological infrastructure. If the systems aren’t maintained, they could be subject to various vulnerabilities and hacking attacks. No business wants to endure one of these, especially with so much sensitive data on the line.

Heart of Texas Network Consultants can equip your business with the tools you need to secure your organization’s future. We can equip your business with a Unified Threat Management tool that’s designed to augment your organization’s network security with a four-pronged defense mechanism designed to prevent infections in the first place. Call us at (254) 848-7100 today to learn more.