The hack served as a warning that some of the most critical infrastructures that could influence the election is not in the hands of government experts, and is far less protected than anyone assumed even a day ago
A masked voter casts a ballot during primary run-off elections in Dallas, July 14, 2020. The hack of Twitter served as a warning that infrastructure that could influence the election is not in the hands of government experts, and is far less protected than anyone assumed. (Nitashia Johnson/The New York Times)
Over the past year, government officials have raced to help states replace voting machines that leave no paper trail, and to harden vulnerable online voter registration systems that many fear Russia, or others, could hijack to trigger chaos on Election Day.
But this week, the country got a startling vision of other perils in political disinformation — and how many other ways there may be to manipulate turnout, if not votes.
The hacker or hackers who bored into the command center of Twitter on Wednesday — seizing control of Joe Biden’s and Barack Obama’s blue-checked accounts, among many others — served as a warning that some of the most critical infrastructure that could influence the election is not in the hands of government experts, and is far less protected than anyone assumed even a day ago.
The hackers probably did the nation a favor. With a crude scheme to deceive users into thinking that Biden and Obama were asking them for donations in Bitcoin — which sent more than $120,000 flowing into their cryptocurrency wallets — they revealed how simple it may be to imitate the powerful and the trusted.
Had saboteurs infiltrated Twitter on Nov. 3 instead of in the middle of July, with the goal of upending the election, the political fallout could have been quite different. False warnings of a coronavirus outbreak in key precincts in Wisconsin or Pennsylvania could have untold effect on a close vote in a battleground state. Deceptive tweets from political party accounts saying polling places were closed could sow confusion.
©2019 New York Times News Service