Fayette County will play a primary role in establishing a new cyber security system to better protect statewide voter registration. Secretary of State Michael Adams and Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton made the announcement Wednesday.
Yubikey is a method of two-factor authentication to protect election data from unauthorized access. Adams said the new security measure is not designed for one particular threat. “I would say in terms of threat, the biggest form of threat that this would address is any third party having unauthorized access. Whether that would be someone who’s a foreign agent, or someone who’s a domestic instigator, or even someone with a campaign trying to tinker with the results,” said Adams.
A federal grant will be used to distribute Yubikey devices to all 120 county clerks. The secretary of state stressed this doesn’t mean registration security is currently an issue. “I want to re-assure all Kentuckians that our elections are secure. They were secure before I took office. They’re secure now, but there’s always more that we can do. This is about risk assessment. Just because something hasn’t happened doesn’t mean that it couldn’t happen in the future,” Adams explained. Adams said the same security seen in the private sector is now being brought to the election process.
Adams noted his office has been working with the mayor’s office in Lexington over the last year on the project. The Secretary of State added Lexington was the first choice to administer the federal grant for the project.
Implementation statewide will take place over the next year, ahead of 2022 elections.
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