California Secretary of State Alex Padilla sent a letter to the state’s political party chairpersons to remind them, their party and their party’s candidates to be alert and take proactive steps to reduce their risk of being a victim of a cyberattack.

The letter was sent in response to recent reports of some political campaigns being targeted by spear phishing and other attacks.

Steps Padilla recommends includes establishing a security framework, monitoring user activity, backing up data and educating employees on best practices to guard against cyberattacks

“While the secretary of state’s office has no direct authority over an individual candidate’s or a political party’s campaign infrastructure (cybersecurity or otherwise), I do believe that exploitation of campaign vulnerabilities and the dissemination of misinformation can lead to a lack of confidence by voters in our election process,” he wrote in the letter. “As such, I encourage you, your party, and your candidates to take cyber threats seriously and take the necessary precautions to minimize your risk. California voters deserve to have confidence in the election information they consume, that their vote matters, and their ballot will be counted and counted as cast.”

For information, call (916)695-1662.