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

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

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