2024 sets the stage for many major elections throughout the world. And that means many experts are bracing as a wave of cyberattacks undermining legitimacy of outcomes could cause massive unrest.

Just how many elections are taking place in 2024? According to a great explainer by CNN, almost half of the world’s population live in countries with elections this year.

These include:

• United States

• India

• Mexico

• UK

• Russia

• India

• France

• Bangladesh

• Pakistan

• and many more

Let’s look at some of the cybersecurity dimensions unfolding:

Voting disruption could happen through pervasive DDoS attacks to online voter tools—including maps to find where to vote and other critical information sources. A combination of these low-level attacks can accumulate, causing major issues as a voting public is left in the dark.

In the US, officials are releasing announcements assuring that, while such attacks can make things difficult, they won’t affect the actual voting systems (PDF). With such widespreads claims of fraud in the 2020 US presidential election, any issues with security could deeply undermine public trust in the outcome.

Deepfakes and disinformation are also causing concern. These are especially relevant after a robocaller used a deepfaked version of President Biden’s voice in New Hampshire to discourage voters from heading to the polls. Beyond the effects of any given deepfake, the technology in general undermines people’s trust in what they see and hear. 78% of US voters said they worried that GenAI would be used to impersonate a candidate or produce inauthentic content.

That same poll found that cybersecurity more broadly created concerns. 85% said they don’t have a high level of confidence that political campagins can protect their personal information. And 52% said they received a suspicious email or text from someone claiming to be with a campaign that appeared to be a phishing attempt.

Foreign influence on elections has been a major topic across the world for generations, but cyber threats offer the perfect opportunity to carry out these attacks. Given the especially tense elections, the US could be particularly susceptible.

In the case of India, it’s neighbor and frequent political enemy Pakistan also had an election earlier this year. It’s claimed that India’s Modi government committed an extrajudicial killing in Pakistan, further stoking tension throughout elections for both countries in 2024. Fallout from the election results is still ongoing for both countries.

Felicity Oswald, CEO of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), emphasized the importance of long-term planning and vigilance in protecting elections from cyber threats during her keynote at the Black Hat USA conference. She highlighted the collaborative efforts between government, industry, and international partners to secure the 2024 UK General Election.

Despite the traditional use of paper ballots, Oswald noted the critical need to safeguard the digital infrastructure supporting the electoral process. She also stressed the importance of maintaining public trust in the democratic system by ensuring the integrity of the online information environment.

The NCSC provided updated guidance to protect high-risk individuals and organizations involved in the election, reflecting the proactive measures taken to enhance cyber resilience. Oswald's insights were shared alongside experts like Jen Easterly of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Hans de Vries from the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity.

The NCSC published a raft of up-to-date advice in the run-up to the election to help protect high-risk individuals, political organisations and organisations coordinating elections. 

Stay Safe, Stay Secure.

The CybersecurityHQ Team