By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News

(CHICAGO)  Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner says he is “concerned” about news that hackers were able to break into the Illinois State Board of Elections website.    Rauner told “The Big John and Ray Show” on WLS, that while the Board of Elections is a separate entity and not a part of state government, his administration wants to help investigate, saying  “We’ve got a very sophisticated new team for information technology inside state government and they are offering to help investigate exactly how the hacking occurred.  The FBI is also involved.”

Federal officials are becoming increasingly concerned about the possibility that hackers, particularly those working for Russia or another country, could breach U.S. elections systems and wreak havoc on the November presidential election.   Right now there is no evidence that happened in Illinois but hackers were able to get information that could include driver’s licenses or portions of Social Security numbers for over 100 thousand people.   The Board of Elections says it will contact anyone who was affected.

Rauner says computer hacking is a problem that must be confronted in the public and private sectors.  He told WLS “I tell ya, bad guys are always looking to break into computer systems both in government and in business.   It’s a huge issue and we’re trying to do everything we can to keep our government systems secure.”

The FBI is warning state officials to boost their election security in light of evidence that hackers targeted related data systems in Illinois and Arizona.

@ 2016 WLS-AM News