Voting in the UK’s Conservative Party leadership election has been delayed after government cyber experts raised concerns over potential hacking of members’ ballots.
According to Security Week, a letter from party headquarters to members – revealed by the Spectator magazine – said ballots due to go out this week would arrive by August 11 at the latest.
The letter said, “This is because we have taken some time to add some additional security to our ballot process which has delayed us slightly.”
The letter highlighted that the party has ditched a hybrid system, in which members could vote first by post but later change their mind and vote online using a special security code. Instead, only the first vote cast – whether by mail or online – will count.
The deadline for voting remains September 2, with the result due to be announced three days later.
The Daily Telegraph recently said the party had acted on advice from the National Cyber Security Centre, which it said feared the potential for hackers to alter a large number of votes online late in the race.
Copyright © 2022 RegTech Analyst
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
