The DCBOE is under intense scrutiny regarding the October 2023 DC Election data breach. The two House Republicans, Representatives Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) and Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), have written a resolute letter demanding answers following the DC Election data breach.
Unveiled just last week, the breach, which unfolded in October, exposed the personal information of some 400,000 voters. Steil and Lee, echoing a chorus of ‘deep concern,’ expressed their dismay in a missive that questioned not only the breach but also the tardy realization of its full impact—two weeks post-incident.
DC Election Data Breach Update
The lawmakers underscored the importance of securing voter databases and protection of voter information. They posited these measures as linchpins for nurturing and preserving public trust in the labyrinth of the electoral process, asserting, “For Americans to have confidence in our elections, they must have reason to believe that voter databases and voter information are safe, secure, and not susceptible to malicious access or manipulation.”
Steil and Lee went beyond mere reproach, cautioning that the ramifications of the hack could extend to imperiling the sanctity of the 2024 election cycle and fostering distrust among the District’s voters in their electoral systems.
The missive from the Republican duo did not merely castigate but also sought clarity. The letter contained pointed queries, delving into the status of investigations, remediation steps, and potential strategies to resurrect voter confidence in the electoral apparatus.
The DataNet Systems Angle
Pointing fingers at the culprit, the Elections board attributed the DC Election data breach to contractor DataNet Systems, the custodian of the compromised server. A two-month-long investigation by DataNet led to the belated public revelation last week.
The board defended the timing, clarifying that the communication timeline was at the discretion of DataNet, following meticulous reviews involving both governmental and non-governmental entities.
DataNet revealed that the information from the DC Election data breach could encompass names, physical and email addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, voter registration details, partial Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers of the affected individuals.
On November 20, the company identified those potentially impacted by the incident and is currently dispatching individual messages to individuals with known contact information.
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