Ohio Secretary of State Website Temporarily Taken Down for Security Purposes

October 20, 2008 
For Immediate Release 
Secretary of State Website Temporarily Taken Down for Security Purposes

Ohio State Highway Patrol will assist with investigation

Columbus, Ohio -  Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner announced on 
Monday afternoon that the state website has been set in a static mode with
limited functionality as a precaution.  The Ohio State Highway Patrol will 
assist with an investigation of one or more security breaches detected by 
the Secretary of State.

"Due to security concerns experienced by the Secretary of State's website, 
full functionality of the website has been suspended to protect the 
integrity of state records and data.  Full functionality will be restored 
when we are assured that all data has been protected to acceptable levels of security," said Secretary of State Brunner.

"Our focus is and has always been to protect the vote of every eligible Ohio voter from any kind of fraud, be it voter registration fraud, illegal voting 
or vote suppression.  This action has been taken to detect and prosecute any illegal breach of our voting infrastructure to maintain voter confidence," said Secretary Brunner.

Unfortunately, this is not the first instance of direct assault on the 
operations of the Secretary of State's office.  In recent weeks, phone lines 
and e-mail channels have been barraged, even in the business filings section of the office, with menacing messages and even threats of harm or death.  Last week, a suspicious package covered with threatening messages and containing an unidentified powder was mailed to the Secretary of State's office via the previous location of the Client Services Center.  These incidents are also under investigation.

The Secretary of State's office will continue to work in the best interest 
of Ohio voters and the boards of elections as we continue our preparation 
for a successful election.


Media Contacts:

Jeff Ortega, Assistant Director of Communications - Media, (614) 466-0473.
Kevin Kidder, Media Relations Coordinator, (614) 995-2168