MEDIA ADVISORY: Minnesota Election Cybersecurity Workshop Thursday
On Thursday, September 24, 2020, the USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative will host a free online Minnesota 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
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and other experts will lead discussions on election cybersecurity Thursday afternoon to help improve security of Minnesota elections. The program will also feature speakers from the University of Minnesota, and from USC in Los Angeles.
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, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Kansas, Idaho, Vermont, North Dakota, Nebraska, Washington, Maine, Oregon, Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Colorado, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Mexico, North Carolina, New Jersey, Texas, Alaska, Tennessee, Michigan, New York, Indiana and now Minnesota.
“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.”
“Minnesota will be a high profile state on election night, and we’re pleased to do anything we can to bring best practices to the public ahead of November 3rd. We’ll be joined by Secretary of State Steve Simon along with other experts to help provide context on elections, cybersecurity, and how they are inextricably linked,” said Justin Griffin, the initiative’s Managing Director.
WHAT: USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative. The topics covered include cyber safety, disinformation and misinformation, and crisis communication.
WHO: Experts speaking include:
- Steve Simon, Minnesota Secretary of State
- Bill Ekblad, Election Security Cyber Navigator, Elections Division, Office of Minnesota Secretary of State, Steve Simon
- Tarek Tomes, Commissioner and Chief Information Officer, Minnesota IT Services
- Ken Martin, Chairman, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
- Daniel Kaniewski, Managing Director, Marsh & McLennan Companies; Former Deputy Administrator for Resilience and Acting Deputy Administrator, FEMA
- Doug Chapin, Doug Chapin, Director of the Program for Excellence in Election Administration, The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
- Tom Scheck, Reporter, American Public Media
- 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
- Sarah Mojarad, Lecturer, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
- 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 corporate reputation and political campaigns
WHERE: Zoom Event. You will receive credentials upon registration.
WHEN: Thursday, September 24, 2020 1:30 – 3:45 PM Central Time
REGISTRATION: To attend, register here: https://uscminn.eventbrite.com
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.