Danny Lopez is the CEO of the award-winning cybersecurity company Glass wall.
From India and Taiwan to the UK and US, almost half the world’s population in more than 60 countries will choose their leaders during 2024, the busiest year for voters in a file. In India, described as the biggest election the world has ever seen, there is an electorate of around 1 billion people, while across the EU, 400 million will go to the polls.
Every election brings a host of challenges, with those presented by interference, disinformation, voter impersonation and vulnerable infrastructure among those widely seen as significant threats to voter integrity. On the face of it, these issues are nothing new—democracies have always been the target of adversaries seeking to disrupt the process or influence outcomes.
What is different for today’s generation of electoral authorities, political parties and voters, however, is that the digitization of society has completely changed the level of risk. This year, nation-states and other threat actors will operate on a scale likely never seen before, bringing an alarming level of sophistication that has real potential to influence political discourse, voter opinion, and disrupt the electoral process.
Electoral vulnerabilities
How do the various threats manifest themselves? Given the ubiquity of digital and social media, threat actors are now making enormous efforts to use these channels to affect the integrity and outcomes of elections. Bot and troll accounts bombard the electorate with a huge variety of generic and highly targeted messages aimed at political parties and candidates or to polarize public opinion.
This includes the widespread use of disinformation – already a ubiquitous social media theme – with rumors and outright lies becoming increasingly difficult to counter. In an election year, these kinds of messages will be amplified even more as voters are urged to be cautious. Elsewhere, hackers are engaged in ongoing efforts to gain access to the accounts and personal data of political and electoral authorities, using the information gathered to bolster their efforts.
Adding to the dangers in a way never seen before is the use of impersonation. The rise of AI-generated deepfake video content has raised major concerns, with incidents increasing tenfold between 2022 and 2023, according to a study. In an election year where some four billion people will vote, videos that put words in politicians’ mouths or cast doubt on the integrity of electoral processes are likely to become commonplace.
Protection of the ballot box
Fortunately, this is not a one-way street, with government and electoral authorities working to address the impact of threat actors. of CISA #Protect2024 The strategy, for example, is designed to “protect against cyber, physical and operational risks to election security during the 2024 election cycle.” This type of activity is mirror in many other countries and regions as authorities aim to minimize the potential for disruption.
While it is unrealistic to expect authorities to fully secure complex election ecosystems, cybersecurity standards must continue to improve across the board. In the EU, for example, an internal review of its own cyber security revealed that the European Parliament “has not yet met industry standards” and is “not fully aligned with the threat level”, according to media reports.
In addition to fundamental improvements in technological infrastructure and networks, authorities should also focus on strengthening their resilience. This should also include the wider use of AI and ML technologies to detect disinformation campaigns and help organizations respond to cyber threats in real time.
As the role of technology continues to grow in modern election processes, human oversight also remains essential. From developing more effective standards and the role of international cooperation to leading public education campaigns, human experience and expertise must be applied as part of a holistic approach to ensuring electoral integrity.
Addressing each of these priorities will help ensure that democratic systems can continue to function without overwhelming outside influence, ensuring the fundamental principles of free and fair elections.
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