Cyber Threats and Election Interference
This session will consider the legal and security implications of foreign interference in the U.S. elections, and will examine the 2020 U.S. presidential candidates' policies and perspectives.
On August 7, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center issued a threat update stating that "Ahead of the 2020 U.S. elections, foreign states will continue to use covert and overt influence measures in their attempts to sway U.S. voters' preferences and perspectives, shift U.S. policies, increase discord in the United States, and undermine the American people's confidence in our democratic process. They may also seek to compromise our election infrastructure for a range of possible purposes, such as interfering with the voting process, stealing sensitive data, or calling into question the validity of the election results."
This session will address these issues and discuss the impact that the result of the 2020 presidential election will have on how the U.S. Government responds to them.
Speakers:
- Susan Benesch, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University
- Carrie Cordero, Center for a New American Security
- Jamil N. Jaffer, National Security Institute, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
- Chimène Keitner (moderator), UC Hastings Law, San Francisco
(Speaker affiliations were current at the time of airing.)