Florida Gov. Orders Hiring Of Election Security Consultants
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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) — Florida Gov. Rick Scott is making some interesting preparations ahead of elections later this year.
Scott is ordering the hiring of election security consultants even though state legislators rejected a similar request earlier this year.
Scott on Thursday announced the state's Division of Elections would hire five contract employees who will assist the department with cybersecurity efforts ahead of this year's elections.
There was an effort to infiltrate Florida's election systems in 2016 but state officials have provided limited details. A classified report leaked last year suggested hackers linked to Russian intelligence stole information from a voting systems vendor and used it to send phishing messages to local elections officials nationwide including Florida.
Citing a "growing threat" state officials and Scott asked the Legislature for nearly $500,000 to create a cybersecurity unit. But the request was turned down by state legislators.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)