Controversy over the security of US elections has made national headlines over the past few years, but experts may have overlooked a major source of vulnerability until now. A study by the security firm Interos found that one-fifth of the hardware and software that comprises voting machines come from suppliers in China, while two-thirds of these components from companies based both in China and Russia.
Interos stated that the companies supplying the hardware and software play an unstudied role in the creation of technology products popular in the US, such as networking gear, cameras, drones, and voting machines. Interos’s study highlights a link previously overlooked between US voting infrastructure and China and Russia; countries with a proven aptitude to target the democratic process. Interos warns that failure to outfit organizations with the proper technology to vet voting infrastructure could result in tampered elections.
Read More: Study finds Chinese Hardware Powers U.S. Voting Machine