Bill Text: IL SR0093 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Denounces any threats by Russia or any other foreign actors who seek to interfere with the sanctity of our democratic process. Urges that the Illinois State Board of Elections produce a final comprehensive report outlining the nature of breach, an audit of their IT systems, and that they enact preventative measures to ensure that such cyber interference never occurs again.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2019-01-09 - Session Sine Die [SR0093 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-SR0093-Introduced.html

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SR0093 LRB100 08915 MST 19058 r
SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Our national and State security should not be
undermined by the concerted efforts of foreign actors with the
goal of compromising our democratic ideals; and
WHEREAS, In July of 2016, the Illinois Board of Elections
was the target of a cyber-attack of unknown foreign origin
which targeted the Illinois Voter Registration System
Database; and
WHEREAS, On July 12, 2016, the IT staff at Illinois Board
of Elections was made aware of performance issues with the
Illinois Voter Registration System (IVRS) database server, and
processor usage had spiked to 100% with no explanation; and
WHEREAS, Analysis of server logs revealed that the spike in
usage was a result of rapidly repeated database queries on the
application status page of the Paperless Online Voter
Application (POVA) web site; and
WHEREAS, Additionally, Illinois State Board of Elections
server logs showed the database queries were a malicious form
of cyber-attack known as SQL Injection, which are unauthorized,
malicious database queries entered in a data field in a web
application; and

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WHEREAS, Further analysis of the web server logs showed
that malicious SQL queries began on June 23, 2016, and that
malicious traffic from the IP addresses continued, though it
was blocked at the firewall level; and
WHEREAS, Firewall monitoring indicated that the attackers
were hitting the Illinois State Board of Elections IP addresses
five times per second, 24 hours per day; and
WHEREAS, Investigations of the attack concluded Illinois
Voter Registration System passwords were compromised, and
passwords included those of election authorities, their
staffs, internal Illinois State Board of Election users,
vendors, and web services; and
WHEREAS, The intelligence community has described these
individuals or actors as part of foreign entities, namely
Russia, intent on boosting one candidate over the other; and
WHEREAS, Aggressive actions contrary to American interests
that foster political chaos and institutional mistrust in our
democratic values must be thoroughly repudiated; and
WHEREAS, The American public also needs assurance that law
enforcement is actively investigating these matters, and if

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further investigation finds evidence that foreign actors
perpetrated or directed such acts, appropriate criminal
charges and sanctions will be announced and enforced;
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we denounce any threats
by Russia or any other foreign actors who seek to interfere
with the sanctity of our democratic process; and be it further
RESOLVED, That such an attack on the United States of
America and the State of Illinois must not go undisclosed, and
that we urge that the Illinois State Board of Elections produce
a final comprehensive report outlining the nature of breach, an
audit of their IT systems, and that they enact preventative
measures to ensure that such cyber interference never occurs
again; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
delivered to Steve Sandvoss, Executive Director of the Illinois
State Board of Elections.