VR Systems

VR Systems is a provider of elections technology systems and software. VR Systems is based in Tallahassee, Florida.[1][2] The company's products are used in elections in eight U.S. states.[3] The company was founded in 1992 by Jane and David Watson.[4][5][6] The CEO and President is Mindy Perkins.[7][8]

History

VR Systems was founded in Florida in 1992 and grew its voter registration system, VoterFocus, in the years following the passage of the Help America Vote Act in 2002.[6] In 2004, in response to devastation caused by Hurricane Charley in South Florida, VR created the EViD electronic pollbook designed to check in voters at central locations as many of the precincts in the area had been destroyed. Today, 64 of 67 counties in Florida use VR products. In 2010, VR became a 100% employee owned company.

Russian target

VR Systems was reportedly targeted by operatives of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) in and around August 2016.[5][9][10] Russian actors also attempted to impersonate VR Systems by creating a false email address as part of a spear phishing campaign targeting state electoral officials.[5][11][10] There are no reports that the spearphishing campaign was successful.

Products

VR Systems offers the EViD[12] electronic pollbook,[13][14] Voter Focus voter registration software, ELM online training and website services specifically designed for the elections community.

References
  1. Waters, TaMaryn (January 26, 2016). "VR Systems names new COO". Tallahassee Democrat. VR Systems, located at 2840 Remington Green Circle, was founded 20 years ago in Tallahassee.
  2. Hoskinson, Cyd (July 19, 2018). "Local Election Supervisors Explain Cyber Security Precautions". WJCT. Duval County uses voter information software made by Tallahassee-based VR Systems, which is the company Russia reportedly tried to hack in 2016 by sending malware infected emails to local elections offices.
  3. Malone, Claire (July 13, 2018). "What The Latest Mueller Indictment Tells Us About Election Hacking". FiveThirtyEight. The Intercept report was based on National Security Agency documents, which did not directly identify the company but made references to a product made by VR Systems, whose products are used in eight states.
  4. Bomey, Nathan; Burlew, Jeff (June 6, 2017). "Russian hacking attempt targets small elections-technology industry". USA Today. VR Systems was founded in 1992 by David and Jane Watson of Tallahassee, in part to help the Leon County Supervisor of Elections Office move its voter registration data from the county’s mainframe to a custom-made system.
  5. Biddle, Sam (July 13, 2018). "A Swing-State Election Vendor Repeatedly Denied Being Hacked by Russians. The New Mueller Indictment Says Otherwise". The Intercept.
  6. "VR Systems Announces New President". VR Systems, Inc. June 10, 2015. Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. VR, founded in 1992, established a strong Florida client base which expanded rapidly following the passage of HAVA in 2002.
  7. Schneider, Mike (June 19, 2017). "Florida voter-registration firm denies it got hacked". Orlando Sentinel. “When something like this happens, it hurts us and hurts us as an elections community,” VR Systems CEO Mindy Perkins told supervisors Monday at the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections conference in the Polk County city of Davenport
  8. Sherman, Amy (October 19, 2016). "Premature posting of election results was mistake, not a crime". Miami Herald. In an affidavit the next day, VR Systems CEO Mindy Perkins explained what happened leading to the early release of results.
  9. Norden, Lawrence (July 16, 2018). "Mueller's Latest Indictment Suggests Russia's Infiltration of U.S. Election Systems Could Get Worse". Slate. We already know that hackers targeted election systems in 21 states and allegedly hacked into the computers of a private U.S. elections systems vendor. (The indictment did not name the vendor, but details seem to match a reported hack of the company VR Systems; VR Systems has denied any breach had occurred.)
  10. Zetter, Kim. How Close Did Russia Really Come to Hacking the 2016 Election? Politico. 26 Dec. 2019
  11. Weise, Elizabeth (June 6, 2017). "Russian hackers' election goal may have been swing-state voter rolls". USA Today. In this case, the Russians identified staff at VR Systems that provided consulting and support services to local election entities across the United States, The Intercept reported. Posing as staff at those vendors, hackers sent local election workers carefully-faked phishing emails that contained malware hidden in a Microsoft Word document. When the worker opened the document, that would have allowed the attackers to gain a beachhead in multiple election jurisdiction networks.
  12. "CONFIGURATIONS FOR CERTIFIED EPOLLBOOKS BY VENDOR" (PDF). Election Assistance Commission. March 26, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  13. "EViD FAQ" (PDF). VR Systems, Inc. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  14. Brennan, Christopher (September 22, 2017). "Feds tell 21 states that they were targeted by election hackers". New York Daily News. VR Systems' website says its EViD software for election management is used in states including California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New York, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
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