Colorado secretary of state fires employee responsible for voting security breach – Washington Examiner
In a recent incident, the Colorado Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, fired an employee responsible for mistakenly exposing passwords related to voting equipment on the state’s website. The passwords were inadvertently posted online for several months before being discovered by the Secretary of State’s office. Although Griswold acknowledged that the incident was a serious mistake made by a civil servant, she emphasized that it did not pose a threat to election integrity. All passwords have since been reset “out of an abundance of caution.”
Colorado secretary of state fires employee responsible for voting security breach
The employee responsible for inadvertently exposing passwords to Colorado voting equipment on the Colorado secretary of state’s website has been fired.
While Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold did not take the blame for the incident, she said the passwords were mistakenly posted for several months and were discovered by her office.
“Ultimately, a civil servant made a serious mistake, and we’re actively working to address it,” Griswold said. “Humans make mistakes.”
She did not describe the incident as a threat to election integrity and said all passwords have been reset “out of an abundance of caution.”
2024 ELECTIONS LIVE UPDATES: LATEST NEWS ON THE TRUMP-HARRIS PRESIDENTIAL RACE
“To be very clear, we do not see this as a full security threat to the state. This is not a security threat,” Griswold told 9News.
“There are two passwords to get into any voting component, along with physical access. We have layers of security, and out of just an abundance of caution, have staff in the field changing passwords, looking at access logs and looking at the entire situation and continuing our investigation,” she continued.
The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, to which Griswold reported the leak, is working with the state of Colorado as part of its response.
When explaining how the passwords were accidentally posted, Griswold told the station that “unfortunately,” a “civil servant” mistakenly uploaded the spreadsheet. She noted that not all of the exposed passwords were active.
Matt Crane, a former Republican Arapahoe County Clerk and current executive director of the Colorado Clerks Association, said the fact that the passwords were online despite being hidden is concerning, but the association is satisfied with the actions the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office is taking.
“The truth is, is this a concern? Yes,” Crane said. “Is it being mitigated? Yes. Does this mean that all of the computers are connected to the internet and that votes are being flipped? No.”
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
