TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) - Florida is hiring five cybersecurity specialists in advance of the 2018 elections, though the Legislature didn’t include the positions when setting the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Governor Rick Scott announced the move this week to hire consultants who will work with elections officials.
According to the Department of State, the money will come from the agency’s federal trust fund for the current and upcoming fiscal years.
Former Leon County Supervisor of Elections, Ion Sancho, spent 28 years as the supervisor of elections in Leon County. He says the positions are a good start, and even more money is needed to assist local supervisors.
“This is an important first step. We have really just begun to awaken to the threat that foreign countries like Russia threaten our election system," said Sancho.
In March, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio warned of a “level of overconfidence” about the security of the nation’s election system heading into the 2018 elections.
Florida is one of several states where voter rolls were believed to have been targeted by Russian hackers before the 2016 presidential election.
Florida officials have not disclosed what exactly transpired during the election.
