Lyft is getting out the vote.
The ride-hailing app is offering free and discounted rides to get voters to the polls for the midterm elections coming up in November.
SEE ALSO: Uber and Lyft promotions for Election Day differ in this one big way
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Category: Elections
Homeland Security is worried about elections, so it’s asking hackers for help
It’s 10 a.m. at Caesar’s Palace hotel and casino in Las Vegas, and the conference room is packed.
Scores of hackers, cybersecurity professionals, and press have gathered at the DEF CON hacker conference to hear straight from the horse’s mouth j…
West Virginia will use blockchain-backed smartphone voting in 2018 midterms
A new pilot program in West Virginia aims to take voting into the technological future. In doing so, the state has cast its eye toward one of the most popular tech buzzwords of 2018.
West Virginia has contracted the Boston company Voatz to enable vot…
Facebook uncovers a new plot to manipulate its users — and proves they’ll always be a target
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Here we go again.
Facebook on Tuesday announced that it had once again detected and removed a coordinated group of so-called “inauthentic” accounts working to influence the U.S. political landscape. Despite the lessons learned from the disastrous Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, these unnamed actors managed to use the social media platform to organize real-world events and gain hundreds of thousands of followers.
And while Facebook has kicked the 32 suspicious pages and accounts off both Facebook and Instagram, this isn’t the end. More likely, the problem will never completely fade. Regardless of the effort put forth by Menlo Park engineers and security researchers, Facebook — with its 2 billion monthly users and powerful micro-targeting tools — will forever be too tempting of a target for those looking to, say, sway an election. Read more…
More about Facebook, Russia, Mark Zuckerberg, Elections, and Tech
View More Facebook uncovers a new plot to manipulate its users — and proves they’ll always be a targetThe next Russian attack on U.S. elections could be more serious than Facebook memes
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This is not a drill. Nor, alas, is it the fever dream of a Cold War hack novelist, as much as it sounds like one. In 2017, Russian hackers gained control of the U.S. power grid to the point where they could cause blackouts. And the U.S. government doesn’t know if they’re still able to do it.
Worse yet, there’s reason to believe this is part of an attack on the 2018 election — one that could make Russia’s pivotal 2016 shenanigans (its fake news machine, DNC email hacking, voter registration hacking and Facebook meme-making) look like child’s play.
We learned about a Russian attack on American infrastructure when the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security released a report in March, but we didn’t know how bad it was until a DHS briefing on Monday. Hundreds of utility companies had fallen victim to the hackers; there may be many more out there that have been hacked and don’t know it. Energetic Bear managed to get into the control rooms of power stations, even into supposedly secure “air-gapped” networks, via vendors. Read more…
More about Elections, Putin, Electricity, Midterms, and 2018 Midterm Elections
View More The next Russian attack on U.S. elections could be more serious than Facebook memesVoters’ data was left exposed online because of course it was
Sure, our ballot may be secret. But our voter data? Yeah, not so much.
Our most recent reminder of this disconcerting truth: Bob Diachenko, a self-described cybersecurity enthusiast who works for an IT development firm, discovered an online database …
Russian indictments show that the U.S. needs federal oversight of election security
Adam Eichen Contributor Share on Twitter Adam Eichen is the author of Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want. He is also an Advisor to EqualCitizens.US Phoebe Wong Contributor Share on Twitter Phoebe Wong is executive director of EqualCitizens.US, a democracy reform non profit based in Washington DC. She was […]
View More Russian indictments show that the U.S. needs federal oversight of election securityGet your trusted midterm elections news from us, says Apple
Apple News has a new old mission: Curating political news and analysis by paying a team of experienced human editors to quality-assess journalism, rather than letting unchecked algorithms run wild and exaggerate anything — no matter how awful, obnoxious or untrue. ‘Fakebook’ eat your heart out. Apple says human curation is not a new direction […]
View More Get your trusted midterm elections news from us, says AppleSynack is the latest cybersecurity company to offer state elections its services for free
The cybersecurity firm Synack will offer its penetration testing services to states for free in an effort to secure election systems for the 2018 midterms. Synack, founded by two former NSA analysts, is best known for its bug bounty program that allows its carefully curated stable of researchers to probe a client’s systems for vulnerabilities. […]
View More Synack is the latest cybersecurity company to offer state elections its services for freeInternet titans ask for ‘flexibility’ with new election ad regulations
A trade group representing big tech’s interests in Washington reached out to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Tuesday to weigh in on proposed regulation that would affect the disclosure of funding for online election ads. While traditional forms of media like TV and radio face strict rules for disclosing election campaign ad funding, social […]
View More Internet titans ask for ‘flexibility’ with new election ad regulationsTwitter will give political candidates a special badge during US midterm elections
Ahead of 2018 U.S. midterm elections, Twitter is taking a visible step to combat the spread of misinformation on its famously chaotic platform. In a blog post this week, the company explained how it would be adding “election labels” to the profiles of candidates running for political office. “Twitter has become the first place voters […]
View More Twitter will give political candidates a special badge during US midterm electionsLast night’s primaries proved that LGBTQ candidates are coming to kick ass and take names
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Tuesday night was a record night for LGBTQ politicians seeking elected office. You just need to know where to look.
Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez won last night’s Democratic primary for Texas governor. She’ll be the first openly lesbian woman and Latina nominated by a major party to run in the state’s gubernatorial race. A few hours south, Gina Ortiz-Jones won her Democratic primary for Congress, which would make her the first Filipina-American to serve in Congress as well as the first openly lesbian woman to represent Texas should she win.
These are all historic victories on a single night, and advocates expect more to come. It’s been a record year for LGBTQ candidates seeking elected office, and some of them are even — get ready for it — winning. Read more…
More about Watercooler, Politics, Lgbtq, Elections, and Lgbtq Rights
View More Last night’s primaries proved that LGBTQ candidates are coming to kick ass and take names