“Various data on up to 35 million U.S. voters as many as 19 states is for sale online, according to a new report from a pair of cyber security research firms. But the Department of Homeland Security says that’s nothing new: much of the data is either public or available for purchase from state and local governments. An Oct. 15 report from cybersecurity research firms Anomali Labs and Intel471 makes a big claim: ‘To our knowledge this represents the first reference on the criminal underground of actors selling or distributing lists of 2018 voter registration data, including US voters’ personally identifiable information and voting history.’
It says that on Oct. 5, voter registration records for Texas, Georgia, and at least 17 more states were offered for sale on the popular dark web hacking forum ‘Raid Forums’ by a ‘known illicit vendor’: a figure named ‘Downloading,’ a likely alias for an administrator on the forum. The data purportedly includes names, addresses, voting history, and ‘other data’ according to the statement. The price? Cheap, starting at $150 for some states and reaching as high as $12,500. ‘DHS is aware of the report. It is important to note that much of information purportedly being sold is available in most states either publicly or commercially,’ a DHS spokesman said in an email ‘It does not appear that this data is indicative of a successful breach of state or local election infrastructure.’”
Source: DHS Downplays Report That Data Thieves Are Selling Millions of Voters’ Data – Defense One
