A case study of authenticated and secure file transfer: the Iowa Campaign Finance Reporting System (ICFRS)

The Iowa Campaign Finance Disclosure project (ICFD) is a pilot effort to develop a simple and secure way for candidates running for public office or Political Action Committees (PACs) to disclose required financial information. In the prototype system described in this paper, a candidate or PAC can transmit information to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board (IECDB) in the state capitol using a PC running specialized communication software as part of the Iowa Campaign Finance Reporting System (ICFRS). After the identity of the candidate or PAC has been authenticated, the information is used to update a database made available to the press and public. The communication software described in this paper employs an interesting mix of cryptography and digital signatures to ensure proper authentication. Two constraints, namely, the desire to keep the process of sending data simple, and having to interface to an established data processing shop, are discussed along with the impact on the robustness of the communication software