Attempt to manipulate the vote marking Grünberg’s 800th anniversary

Online voting was under way for the logo competition marking Grünberg’s 800th anniversary. Everyone in Grünberg was invited to create and submit a design. Many people took part, and we would like to thank everyone who submitted an entry.

Attempted manipulation: Over 200 fake votes!

Unfortunately, there was a “hacker” attack from last Tuesday to Wednesday. The matter was noticed because of a notice that the results were changing noticeably quickly.

After a short investigation, we noticed that a candidate had received over 200 fake votes. The fake votes were of course deleted.

The city and dashdesign; are very disappointed that such attempts at manipulation occur. It is incredibly unsportsmanlike and very unfair to the entire Grünberg community.

You can't blame the candidate for this. We suspect an attempt at manipulation by third parties!

Unobfuscated IP addresses are known to us

The incident could have had serious consequences. Because the attacker had not concealed the IP address, we had access to the IP address used in Hesse and the provider information. At the time, we believed this information could assist the responsible authorities with further investigation.

Consideration is being given to taking legal action.

Protective measures

Attacks against websites are not uncommon. There have been more than three attempts at manipulation during the 800th anniversary celebrations alone.

We have now further tightened our security measures for the vote. The fake votes were of course deleted.

Last but not least, the result is of course checked again for any discrepancies before publication. The results are then published by the city and dashdesign; via press release.

We very much hope that the rest of the vote goes smoothly and are already looking forward to the 800th anniversary.