Hacking help for US elections - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.

And I'm Sam.

When it comes to US presidential

elections, some are more

dramatic than others.

But few elections have been as

controversial as this November's

contest between current president

Trump and his Democratic

rival, Joe Biden.

In America, where many votes are cast

digitally, there is a risk of

cyber-attacks on election

day and with so much depending on

the result, US election

officials are worried.

In this programme we'll be hearing

about plans to preven

election cyber-attacks which

involve election officials working with

a very unusual group of people:

volunteer hackers.

Volunteers are people who work willingly,

without being paid...

... and hackers are people who break

into computer systems without

permission in order to find

information or do something illegal.

But cyber-attacks from hackers

are not the only threat to fair

and democratic elections.

In 2000 the presidential race between

Al Gore and George W. Bush ended

in recounts and disputes

over missing votes. George Bush

became the first modern president

to win the election

despite gaining fewer popular votes than

his opponent - but how many

fewer? That's our

quiz question - how many fewer votes did

Bush win than Gore in the 2000

American presidential

election? Was it: a) half a million votes?,

b) a million votes?,

or c) two million votes?

I'll say b) a million votes.

OK, we'll find out later. Now, the project

Sam mentioned, where official

administrators team up with

expert volunteers to keep the election

secure, is called The Election

Cyber Surge.

BBC World Service programme Digital

Planet met up with project

organiser Maya Worman

to discuss the importance of keeping

the election free from interference.

Any attempt to manipulate or interfere

with election infrastructures -

the machines or the

information sets that determine

who is eligible to vote and

where - undermines the

right to vote. And it puts burdens on

voters and it impacts public

confidence; and high-profile

elections, especially like the one coming

up, heighten the types of risks that we're

talking about.

You can only vote in an election

if you are eligible - qualified by

having the necessary

requirements, for example being a US

citizen who's aged 18 or over.

It's up to each of the eight thousand local

jurisdictions around the United States to

keep their area free from cyber-attacks

and misinformation - risks which

have increased

because the coming election is

so high-profile - attracting a lot of

attention and interest

from newspapers and the public.

The Cyber Surge project to put expert

volunteers in touch with local

officials aims to prevent

these risks. It covers everything from

making sure administrators are

using the latest anti-virus

software to more serious

threats from troublemakers.

Now that's got me thinking actually, Rob.

Suppose I'm a troublemaker

who wants to influence

the election result - so I sign up as

a volunteer and gain access

to all kinds of information.

How do we know that the volunteers

who sign up are trustworthy?

That's a good question, Sam, and one

that BBC World Service programme,

Digital Planet,

put to Maya Worman:

The expectation is not that the volunteer

will have the keys to the

castle by any means,

more that they will have an open dialogue

with an election administrator

who wants to

know more to explore cybersecurity

enhancements in general or specifically.

Volunteers are carefully selected

according to their experience

and skills in cybersecurity -

measures that help organisations and

countries keep their computer

information safe against

crimes and attacks carried out

through the internet.

Volunteers share their expert advice by

talking with election officials.

They won't be given

access to sensitive information so they

won't have the keys to the

castle - an idiom meaning

to possess information or knowledge

which gives the possessor

access to power.

All of which means that the 2020 election

result will, hopefully,

be accepted by everyone.

Unlike the situation twenty years ago.

Ah, you mean our quiz question, Rob,

about the 2000 US presidential

election which George

W. Bush won despite securing fewer

votes than his opponent.

I asked you how many fewer votes Bush

won than Al Gore that year.

And I said b) a million votes.

But in fact, it was even closer - just

a) half a million votes in Florida.

In this programme we've been looking

ahead to the US presidential elections

and its cybersecurity -

measures taken to protect countries

and their computer information

against online

crimes and attacks.

The Cyber Surge project aims to put

officials in touch with volunteers -

people who work

for free, who also happen to be expert

hackers - people who break into

computer systems

without permission.

But the idea isn't to commit election crime

- rather to prevent it by making sure only

those who are eligible - or qualified -

to vote do so.

The project was set up because

the November 2020 election has become

so high-profile - attracting

a lot of attention and interest from

the public and the media.

And of course the volunteers themselves

are carefully chosen to

be impartial experts who

give advice without holding the keys to

the castle - an idiom

about possessing information

which gives access to power.

What's certain is that the world will be

watching this election, so if you're eligible,

remember to vote.

And remember to join us again soon.

Bye for now!

Bye bye!