Russian Interference in the 2020 US Election?

Russian Interference in the 2020 US Election?

By Matthew Nakamura

Clear Skies?

Ballots continue to come in for the remaining states in the 2020 U.S. election. Yet, questions remain about both the counting process itself and the finality of the states that candidates have already “won.”

During an election as close and important as this, everyone is on high alert for signs of misconduct or interference. After what happened in the 2016 election, America has placed the Russian Federation high on the list of potential underminers of the democratic system.

Fortunately, as far as we can tell, there has been little to no observable interference from the superpower. Dmitri Alperovitch is a cybersecurity expert who worked with a private company hired by Democrats to investigate the 2016 election. He notes, “The big story so far is how little we have seen from Russia over the course of this election.”

The Russian government, itself, hasn’t made any statements yet, but Putin-supporters have certainly expressed Russia’s desire to dodge allegations. Konstantin Kosachev, a foreign affairs chair, explains, “Russia benefits from any certainty in which the losers won’t need to resort to claims of foreign interference.”

Past Attacks

The most significant cybersecurity attack so far has come from Russian ally, Iran. Roughly two weeks ago, Tehran allegedly sent a series of emails signed by the Proud Boys to several Democratic voters in swing states. The messages asked citizens to vote for Trump and threatened non-compliance.

Despite the nature of the emails, U.S. intelligence director Ratcliffe shared that they were meant to defame Trump via further association with the white supremacy group. Regardless, the ploy was quickly discovered and defused.

Now, this doesn’t mean that America’s election results are in the clear just yet. In September, FBI director Christopher Wray admitted that there had been fewer cyber threats this year on the election’s infrastructure. However, he also warned against Russian influence on social media.

Many have claimed a spread of false information concerning Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Yet even this is not the biggest possible issue, as Alperovitch has called it mere “background noise.”

Dangers for Democracy

The worst fear is that someone placed hidden malware in the system months or even years beforehand. If the cyber threat did exist, it would most likely be activated by Putin when the ballot count was at its most intense moment in order to sow chaos. It might scramble voter signatures like we saw in Georgia on Oct. 27. Or it could freeze up election-reporting systems entirely, which is the FBI’s biggest worry amid the already controversial shift toward mail-in ballots.

Dave Tackett, an intelligence officer in West Virginia explains, “The goal is not to influence a race, but to break down a democracy.”

If for no other reason than democracy, all of America has a part to play in remaining calm. If foreign nations wish to sow chaos, then it is chaos we must fight to prevent. With tense bodies and anxiety, we can only await the election results. There may be any number of attacks on the election over the next few days, yet only time will tell.

Photo Source: Richard Patterson

#U.S.election #2020election #Russia #cybersecurity

Homeschooler in the Real World

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.