MEDIA ADVISORY: Missouri Election Cybersecurity Workshop Today
On Thursday, May. 14, 2020, the USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative will host a free online Missouri workshop, offering resources to campaigns, election workers, elected officials, academics, media and concerned citizens to reinforce election cybersecurity measures.
Contact: Tiffany Shackelford (703)470-2996 or tshackel@usc.edu; Emily Gersema, (213) 740-6973 or gersema@usc.edu; or Ted Kissell, (714) 316-8808 or tkissell@usc.edu
Experts on Thursday afternoon will lead discussions on election cybersecurity with state and local officials and campaign representatives to help improve election cybersecurity in Missouri. Topics will include cyber safety, disinformation and misinformation, and crisis communications.
The USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative, supported by a generous gift from Google, is an independent, bipartisan effort to strengthen election cybersecurity through workshops held for each of the 50 states.
“We are going to all 50 states, in person when possible or virtually when we cannot, to make certain information about best practices is available to everyone, but especially for those in campaigns and elections,” said Adam Clayton Powell III, executive director of the project. “We are a national campaign, and our candidate is democracy.”
The initiative kicked off in January in Maryland, drawing experts in national security, elected officials, as well as journalists and concerned members of the public. It continued to Ohio, California, Kentucky, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arkansas, Virginia, Louisiana, Wyoming, Iowa, South Carolina, Delaware, Montana, Utah and now Missouri.
“In advance of the 2020 election, we are committed to enhancing election security for voters, campaigns and journalists alike,” said Kristie Canegallo, vice president of Google’s Trust and Safety team. “We’re proud to support USC’s Election Security and Information Project to provide comprehensive training to candidates, campaigns, academics, elected officials, and NGOs to help them prepare for security challenges before the 2020 election.”
“We’re pulling expertise from leaders in every state, and in Missouri we’re lucky to gain perspectives from our target audience on both sides of the aisle. Secretary of State Ashcroft who oversees elections in the Missouri, and leading campaign operative Forrest Richardson will both be part of our program,” said Justin Griffin, the project’s managing director.
WHAT: USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative. The topics covered include cyber safety, disinformation and misinformation, and crisis communication.
WHO: Experts speaking include:
- Secretary John R. Ashcroft, Secretary of State, State of Missouri
- Maura Browning, Communications Director for the Missouri Secretary of State
- Dave Helling, Editorial Board, Kansas City Star
- Forrest Richardson, Campaign Manager, Yinka Faleti’s secretary of state campaign
- Clifford Neuman, Director, USC Center for Computer Systems Security; Senior Project Leader, USC Information Sciences Institute; and Associate Research Professor of Computer Science, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
- Tom Lange, Advisory Board Member, USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations
- Marc Ambinder, Executive Fellow, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
- Adam Clayton Powell III, Executive Director, USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative, and former USC Vice Provost
- Justin Griffin, Managing Director, USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative, and veteran of political campaigns
WHERE: Zoom Event. You will receive credentials upon registration.
WHEN: Thursday, May 14, 2020 1:30 – 3:30 PM Central Time
REGISTRATION: To attend, register here: https://bit.ly/2YKshRi
MORE INFORMATION: The initiative is led by the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, established by University Professor Geoffrey Cowan, who is the principal investigator for the USC Elections Cybersecurity Initiative. For more background on CCLP, please visit its website.