Kollmann Says Cybersecurity Incident was "Not Malicious"

Effingham County Clerk Michelle Kollmann said Wednesday that there is no indication that any voter information was taken when data was temporarily available on the open internet earlier this year.

(MICHELLE KOLLMANN)

Capitol News Illinois, in a separate article on our website, reported that the information was available in July. The information was available through Platinum Technology Resource, an elections technology company based in Batavia. Effingham County utilizes Platinum. Kollmann said the county began utilizing Platinum a little under a year ago.

Kollmann said what was termed by Platinum officials as "an ethical cybersecurity researcher" contacted Platinum about the availability of the information. Since then, Kollmann said new safety upgrades have been implemented and said the system in the County Clerk's office will be safe and secure for the general election in November.

As to the cybersecurity researcher actions, Kollmann said, "It was not malicious at all." She added that as to an item in the Capitol News Illinois article that Social Security numbers were available, "We don't have full Social Security numbers in our system."