Security News > 2020 > February > Lack of .GOV validation and HTTPS leaves states susceptible to voter disinformation campaigns

GOV validation and HTTPS encryption among county election websites in 13 states projected to be critical in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, a McAfee survey reveals.

GOV validation across these states, and 88.9% and 90.0% of websites lacked such certification in Iowa and New Hampshire respectively.

"Without a governing body validating whether websites truly belong to the government entities they claim, it's possible to spoof legitimate government sites with fraudulent ones," said Steve Grobman, McAfee Senior Vice President and CTO. "An adversary can use fake election websites for misinformation and voter suppression by targeting specific voters in swing states with misleading information on candidates, or inaccurate information on the voting process such as poll location and times."

GOV website validation with 95.4% of counties lacking U.S. government certification.

The survey found that 46.6% of county websites lack HTTPS encryption.

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