It’s Time for Presidential Campaigns to Embrace Mobile Security

It’s Time for Presidential Campaigns to Embrace Mobile Security

In recent years, there has been greater attention to the cybersecurity vulnerabilities facing presidential campaigns. This is due in part to events of the 2016 election when Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta had his email compromised in the run-up to the election. When Podesta fell victim to a spearphishing attack attributed to Fancy Bear, a Russian cyber espionage group, it became clear that campaigns had a dire need to bolster security.


Many presidential campaigns have, in fact, taken steps to secure their network email. However, few are actively prioritizing the protection of one of the most widely used channels of attack in 2019: mobile devices. 


At the same time, campaigns have fully embraced mobile as a fast, reliable way to communicate and to quickly and effectively target potential voters with advertising and communications. According to Tech for Campaign’s 2018 Political Digital Advertising Report, presidential campaigns delivered more than 90% of their 2018 digital ad spend to mobile devices. Political organizations have become aware of the return on investment in mobile strategies that target voters for their ability to reach potential voters directly. 


Through mobile channels, campaigns can collect sensitive, confidential information, including voter location data, donor records, voter registration data, campaign strategy calls and unguarded conversations. Since mobile devices are the primary way staffers and campaigns interact with the campaign, vulnerable devices provide hackers easy access. 


Campaigns are one side of the election “insecurity” equation. Individual voters are on the other side. 


An increasing number of Americans are receiving campaign updates on personal mobile devices. This increased communication to voters creates an opportunity for bad actors to craft phishing texts and alerts to trick voters by posing as legitimate campaigns. 


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