Heading toward Election Day, hackers may target your inbox instead of the ballot box.
It's difficult to alter overall ballot counts in the U.S., which doesn't have a centralized voting system, but hackers could take advantage of the Nov. 8 election to dupe people and gain access to their personal information, according to Oren Falkowitz, chief executive of Redwood City, Calif.-based Area 1 Security.
Hackers regularly capitalize on world events from global summits to the Super Bowl to craft phishing campaigns that let them access computer networks, he said.
"People should expect that the theme of the election will be used as a lure — whether it's to influence the election or not," Falkowitz, a former National Security Agency analyst and director of technology at U.S. Cyber Command, said. "It's part of the dynamic that people are going to use to gain access and to cause harm."
With U.S. voters getting deluged with campaign e-mails, many may have their guard down when it comes to clicking on a link or attachment that deploys malware or gets users to enter their login credentials.
The high-profile release of hacked personal e-mails from political figures such as Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta are part of the pattern, said Falkowitz, adding that he saw phishing attacks linked to Hurricane Matthew in Florida.
His company sells technology to prevent phishing, in which hackers typically obtain confidential information by sending an e-mail that looks legitimate and includes a link to a website that mimics the real one, or contains an attachment with malware.
In terms of the actual vote, hackers could create confusion or meddle with turnout.
"You might see, as an example, something like 'Click here to get a free bus ride to the polling station,' or 'Hey, go to this precinct' or 'Hey, don't go to this precinct,' " he said.
U.S. officials are weighing whether to designate elections as national critical infrastructure, a move that would open up federal assistance. To date, 40 U.S. states and 27 county or local election agencies have requested help from Homeland Security to ensure that voting systems are secure.
