US Voter Records From 19 States Is Being Sold on a Hacking Forum, Threat Intelligence Firms Say (zdnet.com)

Catalin Cimpanu, reporting for ZDNet: The voter information for approximately 35 million US citizens is being peddled on a popular hacking forum, two threat intelligence firms have discovered. "To our knowledge this represents the first reference on the criminal underground of actors selling or distributing lists of 2018 voter registration data," said researchers from Anomali Labs and Intel471, the two companies who spotted the forum ad.

The two companies said they've reviewed a sample of the database records and determined the data to be valid with a "high degree of confidence." Researchers say the data contains details such as full name, phone numbers, physical addresses, voting history, and other voting-related information. It is worth noting that some states consider this data public and offer it for download for free, but not all states have this policy.

Comments

Duh

[Tulsa_Time]

It is worth noting that some states consider this data public and offer it for download for free

So why not make it clear in your headline what % of the data is not public before getting all excited...

Re:Duh

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're not going to over react, please don't post.

Re: Duh

[EvilSS]

How the fuck is this public info? Anyone can view your voting history? Is the USA a banana republic?

Voter rolls (name and contact info) are public in most states. Additional data available is usually what elections you voted in, and in some states what primary ballot you pulled. These are usually restricted to campaign and other political uses by state law (marketers, not working on political issues, are usually barred from using it, for example).

Note that how you voted (i.e. who you voted for) is not recorded and not part of any record.

Re: Duh

[youngone]

Please note A/C that in many US states voters also have to register their party preference.
It is one of the many, many little ways the Republicans and Democrats keep their cosy little duopoly going and prevent the people of the US from having any real choice about who rules them.

"history" may be misleading

[xaosflux]

Keep in mind, that the "voting history" in the summary is easy to sensationalize. In most cases it only means you were issued a ballot, and possibly for mail-in ballots that you returned it. No state has a history of what actual voting selections were made.

Re: "history" may be misleading

[davide marney]

I know. I am an election official in Virginia. We're not idiots. Of course your vote is private.

Everything is a "hack" now.

[geekmux]

"US Voter Records From 19 States Is Being Sold on a Hacking Forum...It is worth noting that some states consider this data public and offer it for download for free, but not all states have this policy."

Why am I willing to bet that 19 states do have this policy, turning this "hacking" story into nothing more than clickbait?

We used to get pissed when "hacking" was mislabeled or misunderstood. Now we're just pissed that no one has a fucking clue what a hack is anymore because everyone is labeling every stupid little thing as hacking. Found a shortcut to work? You "hacked" your commute. Used a microwave instead of the stove? You "hacked" your dinner prep. Downloaded free public information? You "hacked" the voting public.

Enough of the "hacking" shit already.