LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — One state lawmaker wants Nebraska to take measures to protect it from cyberattacks. His answer? Hire its own hacker.
State Sen. Loren Lippincott presented a bill Thursday to the Legislature’s government committee that would give the Nebraska State Patrol $200,000 to hire “an ethical hacker.” The hacker would spend his or her days trying to break into the state’s computer network, as well as election equipment and software, to find any vulnerabilities in those systems.
Lippincott said he got the idea from a nephew of his who did similar work. The lawmaker’s staff did not find other states that have hired independent hackers, although Missouri has hired a company that employs “white hat hackers” to provide that service.
“We hope to lead the way,” Lippincott said.
His bill also would allow hiring a security company that provide hackers to find weaknesses in the state’s system.
Security challenges continue to grow for state and local election officials across the country, including potential cyberattacks waged by foreign governments, criminal ransomware gangs and election misinformation that has led to harassment of election officials and undermined public confidence.