Some are calling it the largest data breach in the history of the United States. Eric Neff, the Los Angeles County prosecutor, said that Chinese contractors who worked for a software company based in Michigan had direct control over election data in the United States. They used an app for poll workers that were called PollChief.
Neff described the volume of information in the breach as “astounding.” He commented on the criminal case that is being tried against Eugene Yu, the CEO of Kenneth. Yu allegedly stored election worker data from Los Angeles on servers that were based in China.
The official complaint was issued by the L.A. District Attorney’s Office. It cited as evidence a message from a Konnech project manager that used the Chinese-owned messaging app. The message said, “any employee for Chinese contractors working on PollChief software had ‘superadministration’ privileges for all PollChief clients.”
Sam Faddis is a former CIA officer and he put that statement in perspective for many on social media.
“An individual with super administration access to a system can do effectively anything inside that system,” he wrote.
“He or she can delete data, steal data, alter data, change programming, etc.”
This massive breach in security through the Kenneth software was discovered by “True the Vote,” an election integrity group.
Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips, leaders of “True the Vote,” told a group in Phoenix in August that their team had notified the FBI. They told the invitation-only group that agents in the Bureau were alarmed by the potential national security implications.
But it wasn’t long before Engelbrecht and Phillips said that the FBI turned against them and sought out other “independent” researchers to assist them.
This move left many wondering if the decision of the FBI wasn’t driven by the need to protect the present White House administration.
Chinese Contractors Connected to Security of Poll Workers App
According to one investigation from someone at the Arizona event, the Chinese subsidiary of Kenneth, Jinhua Yulian Network Technology, has been identified.
Eugene Yu established the Chinese company in 2005 and he wrote on his now archived website about his success with “Election Management Solutions Detroit” and “U.S. Overseas Voters.” He also wrote words of praise for the vision of the Chinese Communist Party leader at the time, “Comrade Jiang Zemin.”
Back in 2018, a Chinese news outlet, Kanekoa News, reported that Konnech’s Chinese subsidiary bid on Chinese government contracts to provide “electronic voting systems.” At this time it was for China’s National People’s Congress, the communist nation’s legislative body.
Konnech has other ties to Chinese election software firms like Jinhua Hongzheng Technology.
Hongzheng Technology operates in more than 20 provinces across the nation of China. They are in partnership with Chinese tech giants Lenovo, Huawei, China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile. And they are considered to be the premier voting technology provider for the National People’s Congress.
The Federal Communications Commission has designated China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile, and Huawei as “national security threats.”
True the Vote, the organization that brought attention to the breach, said in a statement on Yu’s arrest that they were honored to have a small role in the massive investigation.
“The organization is profoundly grateful to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office for their thorough work and rapid action in this matter,” True the Vote said.
The organization was sued last month by Konnech after their investigation was featured in the film “2000 Mules.” They said the lawsuit was an attempt to try and silence them, but they would continue to report evidence of threats to America’s election process.
