Microsoft introduces ElectionGuard to protects electronic voting systems from cyberattacks

Microsoft began demonstrating its ElectionGuard software on Wednesday to protect electronic voting systems from hackers. The tech giant said the software will make the electronic voting system more secure as concerns about continued attacks on electronic voting systems. In the past year, Microsoft has warned 10,000 customers that they have become targets of foreign attacks.

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft said in a blog post on Wednesday that cyber-attacks are used to gain information and influence politics. The company added that the attacks were mainly from Iran, North Korea, and Russia. ElectionGuard allowed people to vote directly on the screen, get a tracking code to confirm that their votes were counted and not changed, and then get the actual print confirmation.

Microsoft said, “ElectionGuard and the range of offerings from Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program, as well as tools from others in the technology industry and academia,  are needed more than ever to help defend democracy.”

The company has signed a cooperation agreement with two voting machine technology companies, and a third company is also considering using Microsoft software. Microsoft added that Columbia University will test ElectionGuard software during the 2020 presidential election.