by Michon Lindstrom – 

Kentucky’s statewide voter registration list is being sold on the dark web.

Anomali Labs researchers in partnership with Intel 471 uncovered the information disclosure of United States voter registration databases. The report shows 19 states are affected and 23 million records—for just three of the states. Anomali believes more than 35 million records could be disclosed.

The report says the seller indicates they receive weekly updates of voter registration lists from contacts within state government. Certain states require the seller to personally travel to the locations to pick up the information. “This suggests the information disclosure is not necessarily a technical compromise but rather a likely targeted campaign by a threat actor redistributing possibly legitimately obtained voter data for malicious purposes on a cybercrime forum,” the report says.

In response to the news Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes released the following statement:

“Today, I was informed that the 2018 Kentucky statewide voter list, along with the lists of other states, is being sold on the dark Web. I am working with our election integrity partners, including the Department of Homeland Security, to investigate the matter.

The revelation that this data is being peddled on the dark Web and could potentially fall into the hands of bad actors greatly concerns me and should every Kentuckian.
Let me be clear: as the Commonwealth’s chief election official, protecting our elections and Kentucky voters’ data remains my highest priority. It is why I have repeatedly called for more oversight over the State Board of Elections, not less.

At this time, I have no reason to believe Kentucky’s voter registration system has been compromised. This incident, however, underscores the serious need to ensure our staff are not releasing information in the public domain which weaken Kentucky’s cybersecurity efforts and that the Board must move quickly to put in place new defenses under our Help America Vote Act plan.”

The sale prices for each list ranges from $150 to $12,500. Kentucky’s list is being sold for $2,000.