FBI Investigates Mobile Voting Intrusion

West Virginia's mobile voting app is the latest target of an FBI investigation into attempts to hack the 2018 midterm elections through Voatz, an experimental app that lets voters who are active military or registered to vote abroad vote from their phone. According to a statement from US attorney Mike Stuart, "…there was no intrusion and the integrity of votes and the election system was not compromised." He has, however, referred the issue to the FBI for investigation into attempts to compromise the system.

Voatz co-founder and CEO Nimit Sawhney told CNN that a group of individuals tried to illegally access the system. While they were stopped, Sawhney said the company felt required to notify the FBI of the attempt. Stuart wrote that, while the investigation is ongoing, "No legal conclusions whatsoever have been made regarding the conduct of the activity or whether any federal laws were violated." 

He also noted that any threat to voting will be taken seriously, possibly taking aim at exercises such as the Voting Village at DEF CON. "Whether in the name of an academic exercise, a mere challenge or thrill, or to actually cause harm," Stuart wrote, "we will treat every risk extremely seriously and as a threat to Critical Infrastructure."

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