Commonwealth launches guide to tackle election cybersecurity threat

By Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

As part of the efforts to improve electoral process in member countries, the Commonwealth has launched Technology guide to tackle election cybersecurity threats.

The product has been developed to help election management bodies identify and manage cybersecurity risks.

The guide covers technical systems, laws and policies, and capabilities across the whole electoral cycle. It offers a raft of recommendations that can be tailored to national contexts to help professionals who run elections.

Funded by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the programme supports the implementation of the Commonwealth Cyber Declaration agreed by heads of government at their 2018 meeting in London.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: “With internet-enabled devices employed in almost every aspect of our lives, they are inevitably transforming the electoral processes that are essentials to democracy.

“Yet each advance brings with it the potential for cybersecurity vulnerability, and the concurrent risk of undermining credibility and confidence in the entire electoral process. So it is vital for member countries to exchange ideas and lessons learnt as to what has and also what has not worked.

“That is our Commonwealth way: continually to raise performance through co=operation and mutual support.”

Lead author Dr Ian Brown said: “It’s really important that electoral authorities build up their links with all of those different government agencies dealing with cyber security, data protection, public procurement, a whole range of issues, so they can respond most effectively together.

“We’ve also suggested, especially in the Caribbean and Pacific where there are quite a number of small Commonwealth countries, that it would be really helpful if electoral authorities can co-operate within the region in terms of sharing training and learning, but also thinking about collaborative procurement and sharing information they see about specific attacks on their election infrastructures because that will make the response of each country together much stronger.”

More than a year in the making, the guide is based on an in-depth questionnaire sent to all Commonwealth election management bodies; research missions in Ghana, Pakistan, Trinidad & Tobago and the UK; and regional training workshops in Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean.