> Between June and October of 2016, the group associated with the election hacking "researched websites and information related to elections in at least 39 stat

> Between June and October of 2016, the group associated with the election hacking "researched websites and information related to elections in at least 39 states and territories, according to newly available FBI information," the bulletin states. "The same actors also directly visited websites in at least 30 states, mostly election-related government sites at both the state and local level—some of which overlap with the 39 researched states." > The "actors" performed their research "in alphabetical order by state name," the bulletin states, "suggesting that at least the initial research was not targeted at specific states." The research focused on Secretary of State voter registration and election results sites, but it also drilled down on some local election officials' webpages. As they accessed sites, actors "regularly attempted to identify and exploit SQL database vulnerabilities in webservers and databases." Voter registration information is public (although not technically to Russian citizens!). Visiting the front end websites of the state election authorities and attempting SQL injection on the web forms is not what some downthread are calling a military attack. However, I think it’s great to be sent such a wake up call in the form of a “tap on the shoulder” because these systems should be heavily monitored and better protected. The true election systems should require feet on the ground to compromise in any form. And they should not be electronic without a proper auditable paper record.