LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- FDLE agents have arrested a man they say gained unauthorized access to both a local and state elections website, after the man demonstrated the process to Fox 4.
31-year-old David Levin is facing three counts of unauthorized access of any computer, computer system, computer network, or electronic device, a third degree felony.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Levin, the owner of Vanguard Cybersecurity, is accused of gaining unauthorized access to the Lee County Elections Office website on December 19th, 2015 and to the Department of State Division of Elections website on January 4th and 31st of this year.
In a Fox 4 exclusive story on January 28th, Levin even demonstrated on camera how he was able to log on to the Lee County elections site, using a structured query languange injection.
Computers and other evidence was confiscated from his home during a warranted search on February 8th. Analysis of that evidence led to probable cause for his arrest. Levin turned himself in Wednesday and was booked at the Lee County Jail.
He is being held on $15,000 bond.
The State Attorney office is prosecuting the case.
The Lee County Supervisor of Elections Office is assuring voters that their website is safe. In a statement released Wednesday, elections supervisor Sharon L. Harrington writes: “This entire incident was an unfortunate situation that did not need to occur. Mr. Levin is in the business of cyber security and should have followed the proper protocol. I want to assure the voters of Lee County that all Lee County Supervisor of Elections systems: voter registration, tabulation, and website, are secure.”
