White Hat Hackers

LB1303 is a Very Good Bill

Nebraska State Senator Loren Lippincott (https://nebraskalegislature.gov/senators/landing-pages/index.php?District=34) has introduced a bill for Nebraska to hire an ethical hacker (https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=55485). This is a very good bill. (He has a companion bill on cyber security (LB 1302) but I am not so certain about it.)

An ethical hacker is known as a white hat hacker (https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/white-hat). A white hat hacker tests software and systems to expose vulnerabilities. If Nebraska does this, the white hat hacker would be able to assist in helping Nebraska improve cyber security with clear evidence of vulnerabilities and where expenditures and training should be done to improve security.

I remember all too well what happened to former Nebraska State Senator Bill Kintner. He was blackmailed by a hacker (https://andrewlsullivan.substack.com/p/dont-shame-the-victims-into-silence) and shamed out of public office. Although he was a victim of a crime, the public had no sympathy for him.

Because of what happened to Kintner, as well as what happened in the 2020 election, I thought more people would support this bill, but according to the Nebraska Examiner the bill barely gained any attention (https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/lawmaker-seeks-to-hire-ethical-hacker-to-secure-nebraska-elections-networks/). Even the concerns about election integrity did not appear on the radar anywhere, which I found odd.

There are many things which need to be protected from cyber-attacks. Elections, citizens, government officials, data, the power grid, and other items. Merely testing the power grid for vulnerabilities would be beneficial as the risk is real (https://www.gao.gov/blog/securing-u.s.-electricity-grid-cyberattacks).

Of course, sometimes the most simple thing to do is check your own information. If you or a relative or friend moved to Nebraska, True the Vote can help you check to make certain they are not registered to vote in the previous state (https://truethevote.org/registration).

Anyways, having an ethical hacker on the payroll would greatly enhance security in Nebraska. LB 1303 is a very good bill. Let your State Senator know.