Dan Lacey (@danlacey)

I've had a response to my Official Information Act request around the 2020 NZ Election. I'm going to post the answers to each question separately over the next few days as there's a lot to unpack, then will post the complete response at the end. The antivirus installed at electorate HQ during the 2020 election was Microsoft Defender Antivirus. According to a recent Tech Radar review on Microsoft Defender, it "can't match the market leaders for protection", its "protection is average at best" and "does a decent mid-range job of keeping you safe". Sound fit for purpose to secure the integrity of our election? Which should arguably be the most secure event to ever happen in New Zealand. The fact that the system was connected to the internet and defended by this antivirus is a big red flag for me, I just don't think you could say the election is 100% secure with this knowledge.