CEC expects increased cyber attacks ahead of presidential elections

Cyber ​​attacks on the systems of the Central Election Commission will increase closer to the presidential elections, stated CEC Chairman Ella Pamfilova in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“We are constantly working in this mode, and we know that this peak of DDOS attacks, of course, falls on the active voting time for more than a year. The level of security of our systems is growing every year, as we understand that all kinds of attacks will rapidly increase in time for the presidential elections,” she said.

The digital services of the CEC are now switching to domestic software and hardware, so the degree of their protection is high, while the GAS “Vybory” is completely isolated from the Internet, like its new digital counterpart, which will be launched before the presidential elections. Against the backdrop of the risks of cyberattacks, experts are striving to ensure that “not a single vile virtual rat slipped through,” Pamfilova added.

Presidential elections in Russia are scheduled to take place on March 17, 2024. The current head of state, Vladimir Putin, has not yet announced his nomination, but the presidential administration has already begun preparations for the campaign. He will become the main candidate, Vedomosti wrote.

This year, the unified voting day in Russia will take place on September 10. Citizens will be able to take part in elections at various levels, including elections for heads of 21 regions and elections for deputies of legislative bodies of state power. In most regions, voting will go on for three days. Elections from September 8 to 10 will also be held in the new subjects of the Russian Federation – the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

As Pamfilova previously reported, the CEC has registered more than 81,000 candidates for the elections, of which more than 70,700 are political parties and more than 10,500 are self-nominees. Last week it became known that only citizens who are in Russia will be able to vote using remote electronic voting (DEG). According to Pamfilova, Western countries “made this format impossible” due to a number of sanctions imposed against Russia.