Hello. This is 6 Minute English from
BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.
And I'm Sam.
When it comes to US presidential
elections, some are more
dramatic than others.
But few elections have been as
controversial as this November's
contest between current president
Trump and his Democratic
rival, Joe Biden.
In America, where many votes are cast
digitally, there is a risk of
cyber-attacks on election
day and with so much depending on
the result, US election
officials are worried.
In this programme we'll be hearing
about plans to preven
election cyber-attacks which
involve election officials working with
a very unusual group of people:
volunteer hackers.
Volunteers are people who work willingly,
without being paid...
... and hackers are people who break
into computer systems without
permission in order to find
information or do something illegal.
But cyber-attacks from hackers
are not the only threat to fair
and democratic elections.
In 2000 the presidential race between
Al Gore and George W. Bush ended
in recounts and disputes
over missing votes. George Bush
became the first modern president
to win the election
despite gaining fewer popular votes than
his opponent - but how many
fewer? That's our
quiz question - how many fewer votes did
Bush win than Gore in the 2000
American presidential
election? Was it: a) half a million votes?,
b) a million votes?,
or c) two million votes?
I'll say b) a million votes.
OK, we'll find out later. Now, the project
Sam mentioned, where official
administrators team up with
expert volunteers to keep the election
secure, is called The Election
Cyber Surge.
BBC World Service programme Digital
Planet met up with project
organiser Maya Worman
to discuss the importance of keeping
the election free from interference.
Any attempt to manipulate or interfere
with election infrastructures -
the machines or the
information sets that determine
who is eligible to vote and
where - undermines the
right to vote. And it puts burdens on
voters and it impacts public
confidence; and high-profile
elections, especially like the one coming
up, heighten the types of risks that we're
talking about.
You can only vote in an election
if you are eligible - qualified by
having the necessary
requirements, for example being a US
citizen who's aged 18 or over.
It's up to each of the eight thousand local
jurisdictions around the United States to
keep their area free from cyber-attacks
and misinformation - risks which
have increased
because the coming election is
so high-profile - attracting a lot of
attention and interest
from newspapers and the public.
The Cyber Surge project to put expert
volunteers in touch with local
officials aims to prevent
these risks. It covers everything from
making sure administrators are
using the latest anti-virus
software to more serious
threats from troublemakers.
Now that's got me thinking actually, Rob.
Suppose I'm a troublemaker
who wants to influence
the election result - so I sign up as
a volunteer and gain access
to all kinds of information.
How do we know that the volunteers
who sign up are trustworthy?
That's a good question, Sam, and one
that BBC World Service programme,
Digital Planet,
put to Maya Worman:
The expectation is not that the volunteer
will have the keys to the
castle by any means,
more that they will have an open dialogue
with an election administrator
who wants to
know more to explore cybersecurity
enhancements in general or specifically.
Volunteers are carefully selected
according to their experience
and skills in cybersecurity -
measures that help organisations and
countries keep their computer
information safe against
crimes and attacks carried out
through the internet.
Volunteers share their expert advice by
talking with election officials.
They won't be given
access to sensitive information so they
won't have the keys to the
castle - an idiom meaning
to possess information or knowledge
which gives the possessor
access to power.
All of which means that the 2020 election
result will, hopefully,
be accepted by everyone.
Unlike the situation twenty years ago.
Ah, you mean our quiz question, Rob,
about the 2000 US presidential
election which George
W. Bush won despite securing fewer
votes than his opponent.
I asked you how many fewer votes Bush
won than Al Gore that year.
And I said b) a million votes.
But in fact, it was even closer - just
a) half a million votes in Florida.
In this programme we've been looking
ahead to the US presidential elections
and its cybersecurity -
measures taken to protect countries
and their computer information
against online
crimes and attacks.
The Cyber Surge project aims to put
officials in touch with volunteers -
people who work
for free, who also happen to be expert
hackers - people who break into
computer systems
without permission.
But the idea isn't to commit election crime
- rather to prevent it by making sure only
those who are eligible - or qualified -
to vote do so.
The project was set up because
the November 2020 election has become
so high-profile - attracting
a lot of attention and interest from
the public and the media.
And of course the volunteers themselves
are carefully chosen to
be impartial experts who
give advice without holding the keys to
the castle - an idiom
about possessing information
which gives access to power.
What's certain is that the world will be
watching this election, so if you're eligible,
remember to vote.
And remember to join us again soon.
Bye for now!
Bye bye!