Poll: Clinton best candidate to defend US from hackers

Despite the ongoing controversy swirling around Hillary Clinton’s personal email set up while secretary of State, voters still believe the Democratic presidential front-runner is the best candidate to protect the country from cyberattacks.

That’s according to a new poll from Wakefield Research and encryption firm PKWARE. According to the survey of 1,000 registered voters, 42 percent think Clinton is the White House hopeful “most qualified” to defend U.S. networks from hackers.

{mosads}Clinton easily cleared the rest of the field.

Republican Donald Trump — who has been dominating headlines and the polls in recent weeks — came in a distant second at 24 percent.

Two of Trump’s GOP rivals, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, rounded out the category.

Eighteen percent of those surveyed favored Walker, while 15 percent selected Bush.

Clinton has been fending off questions about a private email server she maintained in her home in New York. The revelation has led to concerns that Clinton put national security at risk by securing her server with substandard encryption methods.

Government investigators have been looking into whether any classified information passed through the setup.

Clinton recently apologized for her choice to use a private email account while leading the State Department.

“That was a mistake,” Clinton told ABC News’s David Muir during an interview that aired Tuesday. “I’m sorry about that. I take responsibility.”

The poll of 1,000 registered voters was conducted Aug. 10-14 using an email invitation and an online survey, with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.