Obama Works on Web Security

Barack Obama has been a leader in his use of “web 2.0” techniques in his presidential campaign. Now that he has the presidential nomination, his campaign has a larger target on it than ever. Now, Barack is hiring a web security expert.

Barack Obama’s website was built by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes and hinges on social networking. While this has been important in driving the majority of the campaign’s contributions, it does open them up with more avenues for attack. The site was hacked two months ago, and a similar attack could cost the campaign millions of dollars if it was heightened to breach status. Such an attack would also tarnish the reputation of Obama and his staff in this crucial time.

“Attacks like SQL injection would be far more of a concern,” said Oliver Friedrichs, a director with Symantec Security Response who has written about computer security and the 2008 presidential election. “If I was able to get access to the database that houses their donor information, that would be very concerning.”

Although Internet security is taken seriously in all political campaigns, Obama has used his website (for the first time in political campaign history) to advertise for a web security expert. The expert would be responsible for analyzing network architecture, overhauling existing security systems, developing a strategy to respond to attacks, and managing “the security posture of the online campaign.”

If you were a supporter of Barack Obama, would you be deterred in your vote by any web attack or breach?

Does Barack’s advertisement of the job position help him appear more transparent or authentic?

Via intergovworld Tags: obama, barack obama, web security, hacking, hack, barackobama.com, website, data security