2018 ELECTION SECURITY PLAYBOOK
Introduction The Orange County Registrar of Voters (OCROV) is responsible for the management of elections for its over 1.5 million registered voters; in fact, there are more registered voters in Orange County than in 21 individual states. The OCROV security systems and controls are in place to enable secure, yet efficient execution of this mission. This public physical and cybersecurity plan was developed to ensure that the information provided by our systems and information remains confidential, available, and accurate. The OCROV is dedicated to protecting the integrity and authenticity of our data as well as the integrity of all votes cast. The cybersecurity playbook provides clear, actionable tasks using tactical approaches to counter the growing number of cyber as well as physical threats. It is important that we take a strong, proactive approach to our security campaign efforts. This approach is a combination of strategies, best practices, along with cybersecurity policies and procedures to reduce our risks and to minimize and prevent threats. The importance of a cybersecurity playbook is illustrated by the following quote from the Harvard Kennedy School: “The consequences of a cyber breach can be substantial and devastating. For the foreseeable future, cyber threats will remain a real part of our Election process. As democracy’s front line, we must recognize the risk of an attack, develop a strategy to reduce that risk as much as possible, and implement response strategies for that moment when the worst happens. While no campaign can achieve perfect security, taking a few simple steps can make it much harder for malicious actors to do harm. Ironically, the most sophisticated state actors often choose the least sophisticated methods of attack, preying on people and organizations who neglect basic security protocols. That is our primary reason for creating this Cybersecurity Campaign Playbook. 1 ”
1 Harvard Kennedy School (2017) Defending Digital Democracy / Version 1.3: Retrieved from https://www. belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/Playbook%201.3.pdf
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