INEC: Hackers attacked our result portal during Ekiti, Osun polls

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said its result viewing portal was attacked by hackers during the 2022 governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states.

INEC said its portal was attacked by hackers across the world, including Asia during the gubernatorial elections.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the disclosure in Abuja on Friday while speaking at a conference of stakeholders on election result management, organised by Yiaga Africa, to launch the Election Result Analysis Dashboard report agenda.

The Ekiti State governorship election was held on June 18, while the Osun State gubernatorial election took place on July 16, 2022.

Yakubu said INEC recorded several attempts to hack the cyber security system of the IReV portal during the elections, saying: “Our Engineers reported several cyber attacks on the portal during the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, some of them from as far as Asia. I am glad to note that all of them failed.

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“However, while we are confident in the security solutions that we have deployed for IReV and all our web presence, we must remain vigilant and continue to strengthen our defences.

“We have tasked our engineers to do everything possible to fully protect the IReV and all our web resources,” he stated.

The INEC boss added that the commission was working to address other administrative challenges.

Yakubu said: “For example, we found out that some of the low-quality uploads that occurred in the field, which some of the observers have also noted, were due to the unavailability or substitution of presiding officers that were trained prior to the elections.

“We shall administratively deal with this challenge and ensure that only adequately trained Presiding Officers are deployed for elections.

“Also, more hands-on training may be required to ensure that all those involved throughout the value chain of the IReV are fully ready for what is bound to be a major outing during the 2023 general election.”

The Star