SR0093 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0093 LRB100 08915 MST 19058 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Our national and State security should not be undermined by the concerted efforts of foreign actors with the goal of compromising our democratic ideals; and

WHEREAS, In July of 2016, the Illinois Board of Elections was the target of a cyber-attack of unknown foreign origin which targeted the Illinois Voter Registration System Database; and

WHEREAS, On July 12, 2016, the IT staff at Illinois Board of Elections was made aware of performance issues with the Illinois Voter Registration System (IVRS) database server, and processor usage had spiked to 100% with no explanation; and

WHEREAS, Analysis of server logs revealed that the spike in usage was a result of rapidly repeated database queries on the application status page of the Paperless Online Voter Application (POVA) web site; and

WHEREAS, Additionally, Illinois State Board of Elections server logs showed the database queries were a malicious form of cyber-attack known as SQL Injection, which are unauthorized, malicious database queries entered in a data field in a web application; and

WHEREAS, Further analysis of the web server logs showed that malicious SQL queries began on June 23, 2016, and that malicious traffic from the IP addresses continued, though it was blocked at the firewall level; and

WHEREAS, Firewall monitoring indicated that the attackers were hitting the Illinois State Board of Elections IP addresses five times per second, 24 hours per day; and

WHEREAS, Investigations of the attack concluded Illinois Voter Registration System passwords were compromised, and passwords included those of election authorities, their staffs, internal Illinois State Board of Election users, vendors, and web services; and

WHEREAS, The intelligence community has described these individuals or actors as part of foreign entities, namely Russia, intent on boosting one candidate over the other; and

WHEREAS, Aggressive actions contrary to American interests that foster political chaos and institutional mistrust in our democratic values must be thoroughly repudiated; and

WHEREAS, The American public also needs assurance that law enforcement is actively investigating these matters, and if further investigation finds evidence that foreign actors perpetrated or directed such acts, appropriate criminal charges and sanctions will be announced and enforced; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we denounce any threats by Russia or any other foreign actors who seek to interfere with the sanctity of our democratic process; and be it further

RESOLVED, That such an attack on the United States of America and the State of Illinois must not go undisclosed, and that we urge that the Illinois State Board of Elections produce a final comprehensive report outlining the nature of breach, an audit of their IT systems, and that they enact preventative measures to ensure that such cyber interference never occurs again; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be delivered to Steve Sandvoss, Executive Director of the Illinois State Board of Elections.