CAMPAIGN SEASON — Lawmakers are heading home for the midterms, and this year, they face two difficult races: one against their political opposite, and a second to keep their networks safe from criminals, script-kiddies, hacktivists and nation-states. It's a slate of threats that could keep a large enterprise busy. But it presents an especially daunting challenge for political campaigns — organizations with a life-span that rivals the mosquito, a shoestring budget for anything that doesn't directly translate to votes and a frenetic schedule from every day between now and Election Day. "A lot of House races don't fully kick up until June, so it's effectively a four-month operation that unfolds at warp speed," said Michael Kaiser, president and CEO of a nonprofit, Defending Digital Campaigns, that helps campaigns secure their networks. "There's no other enterprise that operates that way." Feeding frenzy — Most political campaigns may not appeal to voters across the aisle, but they certainly draw attention from hackers of every stripe. They possess reams of sensitive material, like voter data, campaign plans and donor information. It's enough to attract cybercriminals like moths to a flame — and that's before one considers the political stakes, which draw in hacktivists and nation-states alike. Lean and mean — Most political campaigns have to meet those threats without dedicated cybersecurity staff or a robust IT department, instead relying on personal devices, third-party services and household applications to make ends meet. But campaigns' low digital overhead has a flipside, according to Kaiser. By focusing on cybersecurity basics, like using two-factor authentication or securing their public-facing websites, campaigns can shore up their defenses quickly. All hands on deck — From CISA to U.S. Cyber Command, the federal government has been prepping for the midterms for months. But with 435 congressional districts and 34 Senate seats up for grabs in 2022, the feds are hard-pressed to protect all candidates all the time. That leaves state and local government, industry and nonprofits with a critical role to play on political campaigns, says Bob Kolasky, who ran CISA's National Risk Management Center between 2018 and 2022. When it comes to campaign security, "you need a consortia of non-federal folks to help," said Kolasky, now a senior vice president at security firm Exiger. One step forward — Both Kolasky and Kaiser told MC they have seen significant improvements since 2016. But both recognize how much more work needs to be done, from getting stronger federal support to more buy-in from the candidates. After all, with new campaigns standing up every two years, the race is always just beginning.
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