Election Software CEO Arrested Over Suspected Poll Worker Data Theft

The founder and CEO of Konnech, an organization at the center of many 2020 election denier conspiracy theories, was arrested on Tuesday beneath suspicion of information theft. Specifically, Eugene Yu is accused of storing Los Angeles County ballot employee data on servers in China, in violation of Konnech’s contract with the county, in line with a press statement from the LA County District Attorney’s Office. The story was first reported by The New York Times.

Yu was arrested in Michigan, the place he lives, the assertion mentioned. The LA DA’s workplace wrote that it’s “seeking [his] extradition to Los Angeles.” On prime of the chief’s arrest, investigators additionally seized “hard drives and other digital evidence.”

Konnech is a small firm that distributes PollChief, an election employee administration software program, to a number of municipalities across the U.S., together with Los Angeles. The software program helps to schedule and manage ballot staffing. According to the company’s website, they’ve 32 shoppers in North America, the primary of which was the City of Detroit. PollChief can be utilized in Allen County, Indiana, and Dekalb County, Georgia, in line with an Oct. 3 report from the New York Times.

That article outlined how unfounded conspiracy theories alleging Konnech’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party have unfold broadly amongst election deniers. These theorists typically “support” their claims just by mentioning the ethnic background and nationwide origin of a few of the firm’s 21 staff, and CEO Yu.

From the Times:

Using threadbare proof, or none in any respect, the group urged {that a} small American election software program firm, Konnech, had secret ties to the Chinese Communist Party and had given the Chinese authorities backdoor entry to private knowledge about two million ballot employees within the United States, in line with on-line accounts from a number of individuals on the convention.

Konnech has denied any mishandling of knowledge, and a spokesperson informed the Times that each one of its U.S. knowledge is saved on home servers and that it has information on fewer than 240,000 ballot employees. However, in the future after the web publication of the Times’ story, Yu was arrested. Konnech didn’t instantly reply to Gizmodo’s request for remark.

In an announcement to The Washington Post, the corporate wrote, “We are continuing to ascertain the details of what we believe to be Mr. Yu’s wrongful detention by LA County authorities.” The firm additional mentioned that “any LA County poll worker data that Konnech may have possessed was provided to it by LA County, and therefore could not have been ‘stolen’ as suggested.”

In September, Konnech sued election denier group True the Vote for alleged defamation and the corporate was granted an emergency momentary restraining order by a decide within the case, in line with the Times.

Worth noting: Regardless of whether or not or not a few of Konnech’s knowledge was saved on servers in China, LA County mentioned that may’ve had no bearing on election outcomes or vote counts. Though the DA’s workplace didn’t precisely specify what data was saved improperly.

“This investigation is concerned solely with the personal identifying information of election workers. In this case, the alleged conduct had no impact on the tabulation of votes and did not alter election results,” the county’s information assertion mentioned. “But security in all aspects of any election is essential so that we all have full faith in the integrity of the election process.”

“I want to thank my prosecutors and investigators for their commitment to eliminating cyber intrusions against government entities and local businesses,” LA District Attorney George Gascón mentioned within the assertion. “Data breaches are an ongoing threat to our digital way of life. When we entrust a company to hold our confidential data, they must be willing and able to protect our personal identifying information from theft. Otherwise, we are all victims.”

Yet the alleged knowledge breach right here is far smaller than the ransomware assault that hit LA’s Unified School District final month. Earlier this week, 500 GB of doubtless delicate knowledge from the district was posted on-line. No arrests have been made in that case but.