When the extent of Facebook's involvement in the 2016 US election was revealed, it became clear that we had entered a new era for democracy.
We recently learned that Russian hackers successfully infiltrated the digital voting systems of several countries. They also stole campaign data and manipulated it through social media channels to fuel even greater polarization between voter groups in the countries.
And due to the 2019 general election in the UK where society was similarly divided, these issues suddenly came to light and created even greater uproar.
The events of 2016 and the recent data breaches involving the Labour Party mark a new battleground for hackers and cyber experts where politics, people’s belief systems and the very fabric of our democratic processes are threatened.
But while tech giants Google and Twitter have recently made moves to ban misleading political information on their platforms, we’re a long way from the finish line. In fact, most people are woefully unprepared – through no fault of their own – to distinguish information from misinformation.
It is crucial that we find new ways to defend the integrity of the democratic process, supporting innovators to develop new tools. We also urgently need a public education initiative that empowers people to understand the influences at play – whether it is an obvious violation or subtle, targeted fake news.
Government must take a leadership role here, but it will need the support of industry. Addressing such a complex, global challenge will require cross-border and cross-sector collaboration. The public sector and community must also be active in the security approach and could prove key to unlocking robust solutions.
With new and ever-increasing threats to our political system from external actors, it is time for the cybersecurity industry to adapt to the needs of our society.
The good news is that with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), GCHQ, academic institutions such as the Centre for Secure Information Technologies, the London Office for Rapid Advances in Cyberspace (provided by Plexal) and a lack of innovative leaders, there is a strong security ecosystem in the UK. We just need to reimagine it to meet this particular challenge.
As they say, democracy is the worst form of government. And there is nothing more powerful in a democratic country than a legitimate election. So let's hope that after these elections we didn't miss an important trick.
Instead, let's understand where we need more safeguards by bringing the public and private sectors together to create cyber solutions that protect the political sphere. The integrity of our democracy depends on it
