Washington Examiner October 2, 2020 — Ransomware Attack on Election Software Vendor Raises Alarms in Cybersecurity Community
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It’s unclear if the attack on Tyler Technologies was part of the campaign by Russia, China, and other countries to influence the U.S. election. Still, some security experts said the attack fits in with the broader mission to create distrust about the U.S. election system.
“Political campaigns are easy targets with big rewards,” Steve Tcherchian, chief information security officer at XYPRO Technology, a cybersecurity analytics vendor, told the Washington Examiner. “We saw during the 2016 election how an improperly secured home email server can do insurmountable damage to a campaign. It potentially influenced our entire election, thus influencing how policies are set, what priorities are focused on, and how relationships between countries are handled.”
Ransomware could be a useful tool for cyberattackers looking to dispute the election, he added.
“Criminals love panic and chaos,” he said. “They’ll use every opportunity to exploit the situation. There is a lot of damage that can be done to a campaign by ‘ransomwaring’ a PAC or a consulting firm supporting a campaign.”
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Steve Tcherchian, CISSP, PCI-ISA, PCIP is the Chief Product Officer and Chief Information Security Officer for XYPRO Technology. Steve is on Forbes Technology Council, the NonStop Under 40 executive board, and part of the ANSI X9 Security Standards Committee.
With over 20 years in the cybersecurity field, Steve is responsible for the strategy and innovation of XYPRO’s security product line as well as overseeing XYPRO’s risk, compliance, and security to ensure the best experience for customers in the Mission-Critical computing marketplace.
Steve is an engaging and dynamic speaker who regularly presents on cybersecurity topics at conferences around the world.
