Symantec makes elections more secure with free service to ‘spoof proof’ candidates websites

Symantec announced the availability of a free service, powered by Symantec’s artificial intelligence technology, that political candidates and campaigns can use to test the security and authenticity of their websites.

Attracting users to fake websites that contain differences from legitimate websites, is a technique that cyber criminals use to gather personal information, such as birth dates, email addresses, and voting preferences.

That data can then be weaponized to influence behavior and attitudes, spread false information, or be harvested for cyber crime.

The websites of candidates, state election commissions, and other political organizations are a target for malicious actors seeking to influence the outcome of the upcoming U.S. midterm elections, as well as other global electoral processes.

Organizations, including candidates, election commissions and political parties, can sign up free of charge to have their websites checked by Symantec’s Project Dolphin spoof proof service, utilizing the company’s technology.

This AI-driven technology analyzes websites in Symantec’s telemetry and if it discovers a spoofed version of the legitimate site, the company will notify the organization with details.

“Symantec has been focused on election security for many years, but given the gravity of the current security landscape, we are compelled to raise awareness and make it easy for relevant parties to participate in ensuring the integrity of the upcoming election,” said Greg Clark, CEO, Symantec.

“The issues that plagued the 2016 election are still prevalent today and are likely to continue to persist through the midterm elections, into 2020, and into elections globally. It is important for all parties, public and private, to contribute to protecting the security and integrity of our elections and democracy.”

Along with the service, Symantec is making informational resources available to election officials, campaigns, and candidates through its election security microsite, including:

• Election Security Best Practices for poll workers, voters, and government officials,
• Training videos for polling officials and workers to help them learn to spot and stop tampering efforts,
• Blogs containing analysis, tips, and information related to security for voters, election officials, and candidates,
• Aggregated news on election security as a resource.

Spoofing attacks can be used to target any organization, which is why Symantec is making this service freely available for anyone interested in testing their website.