海角大神

For all the concern that Russian hackers sought to exploit US political divides, they have done quite the opposite in at least one instance. Their interference in the 2016 election has united two prominent political rivals who 鈥� as partisan as they have been 鈥� care even more about safeguarding American elections.

Campaign manager Robby Mook poured heart and soul into trying to get Hillary Clinton elected. Matt Rhoades, who managed Mitt Romney鈥檚 2012 presidential campaign, went on to establish one of the most prominent groups working against Mrs. Clinton 鈥撀爐he political action committee America Rising.

They couldn鈥檛 be a more unusual pair 鈥� yet both of their campaigns were hacked. Determined to prevent such attacks in the future, they joined former Pentagon cyber czar Eric Rosenbach last summer in launching the Defending Digital Democracy (DDD) project 鈥� a bold move, considering how politically radioactive the topic was at the time. The initiative is run out of Harvard Kennedy School鈥檚 Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, which has brought together everyone from Google managers to Marines to politicos to shore up state electoral systems against cyberattacks.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think I鈥檇 be here today partnering with Robby Mook,鈥� says Mr. Rhoades, sitting with Mr. Mook after helping to kick off a DDD cyberattack simulation in Cambridge, Mass.

鈥淢att has been making my life hard for awhile,鈥� says Mook, laughing. 鈥淵ou guys were a huge thorn in my side.鈥�

A central concern surrounding Russian interference was that by agitating existing divisions in America, it would undermine the country鈥檚 capacity to identify and unite against foreign threats. Mook鈥檚 and Rhoades鈥檚 partnership, and the involvement of more than three dozen states from across the political spectrum in the DDD project, proves it is possible to surmount such division and discord in pursuit of a higher goal: preserving the integrity of America鈥檚 electoral system, and the public鈥檚 trust in it.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot that Matt and I don鈥檛 agree on at all. We all have a partisan affiliation but when you鈥檙e in this space, that鈥檚 not evident,鈥� says Mook. 鈥淪o this has been inspiring to me, that we can get together and get things done.鈥�

The front-line defenders

While Mook was experiencing the effects of Russian hackers, Mr. Rosenbach was watching with dismay from the Pentagon. 鈥淚t was something that really shook me up,鈥� he told the participants Tuesday in a speech kicking off the cyberattack simulation. 鈥淚 just left with the feeling that I didn鈥檛 do enough, that we as an administration didn鈥檛 do enough, and that we still are very vulnerable. And so my nightmare was that ... someone like Kim Jong-un would rub his grubby little hands and say, 鈥楴ow 滨鈥檓 going after the Americans.鈥� 鈥�

The more than 160 participants gathered here would be the kind of folks to take the brunt of any such attacks. They come from 38 states and range from secretaries of State to county IT directors, some at the forefront of election security efforts and others still trying to wrap their heads around the challenges they face.

鈥淵ou are all front-line defenders in the democratic process,鈥� Caitlin Conley tells them. She is a commander of US Army special forces who is pursuing dual master鈥檚 degrees in business and public policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, respectively. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like you have all the resources in the world, both financially or through personnel, to do everything you can and want to. We understand you have real-world constraints.鈥�

So over the past six months, she has marshaled a team of more than three dozen graduate students with backgrounds in the Air Force, Navy, Marines, Army, National Security Agency, and elsewhere to visit with state and county election officials, hear their concerns, and develop playbooks for safeguarding campaigns and elections against cybersecurity threats.

鈥淭hose are gold. You can take those back with confidence,鈥� says Mac Warner, secretary of State for West Virginia, which has provided the guidebooks to all county clerks and to the nearly 600 candidates registered to run in the 2018 elections. The resources and credibility Harvard has provided, he adds, enables him to 鈥済o back with confidence to the people of West Virginia, knowing that I鈥檝e been working with the best in the world.鈥�

The 鈥楢pocalypse鈥�

Since 2000, when the results of the presidential contest between Al Gore and George W. Bush came down to the Florida recount and the US Supreme Court, states have moved to digitize much or even all of their voting process. That may have largely eliminated human error, but it has opened the door wide toward exploitation by hackers.

At one of the nation鈥檚 top hacking conferences, DEFCON, in July 2017, hackers were given the opportunity to bang away at 25 pieces of voting equipment, including voting machines. By the end of the weekend, 鈥� some in as little as an hour and a half. Even hackers with no experience on voting machines were successful.

鈥淭hese are bored teenagers between parties,鈥� said security technologist Bruce Schneier in a series of expert discussions before the Belfer simulation began.

Participants were then divided into four states of the Nation of Belfer, and given detailed descriptions of their electoral domain 鈥� from the number of registered voters to the number of iPads and optical scanners to how the precinct results would be relayed to the county and on to the state. States were given a budget of $7,000, counties $3,000. But what they were not told 鈥撀燼nd journalists were not allowed to observe 鈥� were the series of challenges that would be thrown their way once the simulation began.

鈥淲e have created what we think is the Armageddon or Apocalypse of Election Day,鈥� Jen Nam, an Army intel officer turned Kennedy School graduate student, tells the State of Davis. 鈥淚n the US Army, we do scenarios like this quite frequently to ... prepare us for a no-fail mission.鈥�