Ransomware Attacks During the 2020 Election Cycle
| Submitted | July 20, 2020 |
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From: Allan Liska
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the North Dakota Open Records Law, I hereby request the following records:
Guidance, including guidance to state and local elections officials and Secretary of State IT staff, avoiding, detecting or mitigating ransomware attacks on elections systems during the 2020 election cycle, on best practices for state and local elections officials accessing or storing sensitive information, including voter databases, and evaluations about the threat of ransomware disrupting the elections.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days.
Sincerely,
Allan Liska
From: secretary of state
Mr. Liska,
I am in receipt of this and am determining which records we have to be unique and responsive to your request. Much of the guidance has come from other sources, such as DHS/CISA. Are you looking specifically for guidance our office has sent, or received? If received, from which sources?
Please call if you would like to discuss. I am in meetings most of the month, but will return your call ASAP if I miss you.
Take care,
Brian D. Newby, CERA
State Election Director | North Dakota Secretary of State
600 E Boulevard Ave | Dept 108
Bismarck, ND 58505-0500
Desk: 701.328.3721
bnewby@nd.gov<mailto:bnewby@nd.gov> | sos.nd.gov<https://sos.nd.gov/>
[cid:image001.png@01D6603E.2F1BACB0]<https://vip.sos.nd.gov/WhereToVote.aspx?tab=0> [cid:image002.png@01D6603E.2F1BACB0] <http://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Dakota-Secretary-of-States-Office/294295787341350>
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July 20, 2020
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the North Dakota Open Records Law, I hereby request the following records:
Guidance, including guidance to state and local elections officials and Secretary of State IT staff, avoiding, detecting or mitigating ransomware attacks on elections systems during the 2020 election cycle, on best practices for state and local elections officials accessing or storing sensitive information, including voter databases, and evaluations about the threat of ransomware disrupting the elections.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days.
Sincerely,
Allan Liska
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From: Allan Liska
Mr. Newby,
I will call and leave you a message, but to narrow it down a little bit, I would like to get two things:
1. Any guidance you have received from DHS/CISA or EI-ISAC
2. Any training, or alerts you have shared with your team around ransomware threats to your voter registration database.
Thank you!
allan
From: secretary of state
Allan:
Attached are the responsive records to your first item below.
North Dakota does not have a voter registration database, so there are no responsive records to the second item.
Take care,
Brian D. Newby, CERA
State Election Director | North Dakota Secretary of State
600 E Boulevard Ave | Dept 108
Bismarck, ND 58505-0500
Desk: 701.328.3721
bnewby@nd.gov<mailto:bnewby@nd.gov> | sos.nd.gov<https://sos.nd.gov/>
[cid:image001.png@01D66980.9DCCE6B0]<https://vip.sos.nd.gov/WhereToVote.aspx?tab=0> [cid:image002.png@01D66980.9DCCE6B0] <http://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Dakota-Secretary-of-States-Office/294295787341350>
From: Allan Liska
Brian,
Thanks so much for your help with this request! I really appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Allan Liska
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