As part of the 10th anniversary of the Clearinghouse Awards, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is spotlighting previous Clearie winners, including the Illinois State Board of Elections.
The EAC interviewed Illinois State Board of Elections Public Information Officer Matt Dietrich on the board’s 2020 Clearie award-winning program, Cyber Navigator Program (CNP) . It was recognized in the category dedicated to election security and technology.
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EAC Q&A: MATT DIETRICH, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, ILLINOIS STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS
1. How did you learn about the EAC Clearie program, and what motivated you to author your State Board of Elections’ Clearie entry?
We’re governed by an eight-member board who has followed development of our Cyber Navigator Program after approving its creation. One of our board members who had seen the program grow from its initial concept in 2018 to its final form suggested we enter.
2. What was the motivation behind developing your Cyber Navigator Program?
After we faced a cyber intrusion on one of our systems that required help from state and federal agencies to address, we realized that local election authorities could also be vulnerable to similar attacks. We wanted to ensure that all 108 local election offices had cybersecurity resources and training to prevent and, if necessary, respond to them.
Using a $14 million HAVA grant and matching state funding, we established the Cyber Navigator Program.
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3. Tell us more about how the Cyber Navigator Program works.
We have divided the state into four geographic zones, each containing about a quarter of our 108 local election authorities, with two cyber navigators assigned to each zone. Each navigator is assigned to specific offices, with whom they meet regularly to conduct training, provide risk assessments, and answer questions related to cybersecurity.
4. Speak to how your Cyber Navigator Program advances messaging on cybersecurity best practices and how the program created new partnerships with state and federal agencies.
At the staff level in the local offices, the CNP emphasizes that cybersecurity is the responsibility of every employee; that something as simple as opening an unfamiliar link in an email has the potential to turn into a big problem. At the state level, the program’s Election Security Program Manager is stationed at the Illinois State Police Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center and the CNP’s Election Security Intelligence Analyst works in partnership with the Security Operations Center of the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology. This gives us a view of potential threats identified by those agencies.
The program has brought together federal agencies such as Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI with those state agencies for both general cybersecurity and pre-election threat meetings covering a wide range of topics.
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5. What does recognition by the EAC’s Clearies program mean to the Illinois State Board of Elections?
We were honored to have our work recognized by the EAC. Since the program first got off the ground in 2018, we’ve heard from other states that are undertaking similar efforts. The Clearie certainly helped make our program better known nationally.
6. Would you recommend other states and their jurisdictions submit a Clearie entry?
Definitely. We can all learn by sharing ideas for improvements and innovation in election administration.
7. Anything else you would like to add?
To anyone considering entering a Clearie nomination, don’t worry that your entry might be relevant only to your state or county or not important enough to merit recognition. It’s likely that someone else out there can learn something from what you’ve done.