Local

FBI investigating data breach involving state voters

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating an alleged data breach at the Center for Election Systems at Kennesaw State University.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Aaron Diamant reports the state voter data kept by the Center for Election Systems was compromised. Sources tell Diamant the hack happened Wednesday night.
The Georgia Secretary of State uses the Center for Election Systems at Kennesaw State to facilitate elections in all Georgia counties and maintain voting machines.

ATLANTA — Diamant confirmed the Governor's office asked the GBI to contact the FBI after learned of the scope of the problem.

"Obviously this is a big incident that affects a lot of people in the state of Georgia," cyber-secutiry consultant Tony UcedaVelez said. "There could be numerous types of threat motives that are in play."

Sources said the breach happened Wednesday night and the hacker made off with millions of voter records.

"Compromised information means that criminals are leveraging that information in order to make more tactical ploys for compromising identities, for compromising our financial status," UcedaVelez said.

Kennesaw State released the following statement: “Kennesaw State officials are working with federal law enforcement officials to determine whether and to what extent a data breach may have occurred involving records maintained by the Center for Election Systems. Because this involved a pending criminal investigation Kennesaw State will have no further comment on this matter and any inquiries should be addressed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office."

"This matter is deeply concerning, but I am confident the FBI working with KSU will track down the perpetrator," Kemp said in a written statement.

0