Last month Sen. Blumenthal (D,CT) introduced S 3311, the Defending
the Integrity of Voting Systems Act. The bill would amend the definition of
‘protected computer’ in 18
USC 1030 to include voting systems.
Protected Computer
Section 2 of the bill amends the definition of ‘protected
computer’ §1030(e)(2)
by adding “is part of a voting system”. It further clarifies that the voting
system is either:
• Used for the management, support,
or administration of a Federal election; or
• Has moved in or otherwise affects interstate or
foreign commerce.
Moving Forward
Blumenthal and his two cosponsors {Sen. Graham (R,SC) and
Sen. Whitehouse (D,RI)} are all members of the Judiciary Committee. This means
that there is a good chance that they would have sufficient influence to have
this bill considered in Committee. I do not see anything that would draw
significant opposition to the bill. I suspect, however, that the current
political back-and-forth on foreign political influence will cause slow
movement on this bill, preventing consideration during the remaining months of
this session.
Commentary
The big problem with this bill is the lack of definition of ‘voting
system’. While the new paragraph §1030(e)(2)(C)(I)
looks like an attempt at a definition by stating “is used for the management,
support, or administration of a Federal election” the subsequent inclusion of
the next phrase “or, has moved in or otherwise affects interstate or foreign
commerce” compromises that definition by overly expanding the possible universe
of covered computers. I understand that the crafters were trying to
specifically include State and local government computers, but a broader reading
of that language, especially the word ‘support’, is encouraged by the way
Congress has been talking about ‘election interference’ to include influence
operations on social media.
I also am concerned about any broadening of the scope of §1030 generally without
some sort of effort to ensure that studies of computer systems by legitimate
security researchers are not stymied by application of this section by prosecutors
seeking to protect owners from the embarrassment of being publicly told that
their computers are poorly secured.
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