The Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) unanimously passed minimum security standards for all Virginia elections administrators to follow beginning next year.
In 2019, the General Assembly passed HB 2178; this legislation called for new, modern cyber security standards that must be met throughout the Commonwealth before systems are allowed to access Virginia’s election database. Since July, the Department of Elections along with a workgroup comprised of local government IT professionals and general registrars have met to compose a list of standards that will help to ensure the integrity of Virginia’s voter registration system.
These new minimum security requirements for election administrators include, but are not limited to: setting new standards for creating secure passwords, requiring an increased emphasis on utilizing anti-virus protection on their election systems, and developing and training on incident response plans.
“Virginia is already recognized as a national leader for our focus and prioritization of initiatives designed to maintain the integrity of our elections,” said Department of Elections Commissioner Christopher Piper. “These new security standards will only bring even more support to our current efforts.”
These standards will be updated on an annual basis to keep up with changing technology and emerging cyber security threats.