Cyber Incident Victim: New York State Board of Elections
Date:
Jun 2014
Location:
United States of America
Summary
The New York State Board of Elections website was compromised by Anonymous-affiliated actors as part of a protest against human rights abuses associated with an international sporting event. Attackers defaced the site, redirecting it to a subpage and replacing the homepage with a video, while causing extended downtime; the operation was linked to broader hacktivist activities targeting entities perceived as supporting the event's controversies.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 2 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On June 9, 2014, the New York State Board of Elections website experienced a cyberattack attributed to the hacktivist collective Anonymous. The attack occurred in the early morning hours, with the website becoming inaccessible to regular users. Visitors who accessed the site during the initial breach encountered a defaced homepage displaying content supporting Anonymous' #OpWorldCup campaign. The attackers modified the site's address to elections.ny.gov/anonbrazil and replaced its standard content with a protest video. Autonomous Operations, an Anonymous-affiliated Twitter account, claimed responsibility for the hack through a social media post that included a screenshot of the defaced site. The incident formed part of a coordinated protest against human rights violations and displacement of impoverished citizens in Brazil ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which was scheduled to begin four days later on June 12.
The website remained nonfunctional throughout the day, preventing public access to state election law information and campaign finance resources. While no voter data or election systems were reported as compromised, the disruption represented a temporary denial of service to citizens seeking official information. The attack coincided with Anonymous' broader targeting of World Cup-related entities, though major sponsors like Visa and Coca-Cola listed as potential targets remained unaffected at the time of reporting. The New York State Board of Elections, described as potentially less secure than commercial targets, showed no evidence of having prior connection to World Cup operations or Brazilian political issues. Brazilian government websites had experienced similar takedowns as part of the same operation, while civil unrest continued in Brazil with transit worker strikes and police deploying tear gas against protesters in São Paulo. No technical details about attack vectors or restoration efforts were disclosed in available reports.