Hackers attack election Databases in Illinois, Arizona read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/727-hackers-attack-election-databases-in-illinois-arizona

States have a variety of systems some better than others but the voting machines and tabulating systems are generally not connected to the internet, which would be easy that hackers would use to compromise the electoral system.

The Department of Homeland Security is unaware of any specific credible threat to the electoral systems according to a law enforcement official.

Election databases are attractive targets to hackers because they contain personal information that can be gathered in network together with other data to help criminals steal money.

In Illinois, hackers accessed a database for the Illinois Board of Elections, compromising up to 200,000 personal voter records.

Arizona officials took the statewide voting registration system offline after the FBI alerted the Arizona Department of Administration that there was a credible cyber threat to the voter registration system.

When they took the system offline to review any unprotected circumstances they discovered that a county election official's username and password had been posted online publicly.

It's believed that a worker may have inadvertently downloaded a virus which exposed the username and password.

 In this instance, the username and password information posted would only give individuals access to a localized, county version of the voting registration system, and not the entire state-wide system.

Investigators believe the hackers are likely based overseas, according to a law enforcement official.

The Illinois database included voters' names, addresses, sex and birthdays in addition to other information. Some of the records include either last four digits of a voter's social security number or drivers' license numbers.

The database is comprised of records for 15 million individuals and is 10 years old. Not all outdated information has been purged, according to Menzel, so some of those records likely include information for deceased voters or those who have subsequently moved.