General Discussion

kpete

(72,006 posts) Sat Oct 27, 2012, 05:42 PM Oct 2012

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Could e-voting machines in Election 2012 be hacked? YES! YES! YES!

Could e-voting machines in Election 2012 be hacked? Yes.

Security experts say a specific kind of electronic-voting machine is vulnerable to being hacked. Influencing a national election would be difficult, but the advance of malware makes it possible.

By Mark Clayton, Staff writer / October 26, 2012

"The risk of cyber manipulation of these machines is quite real," says Barbara Simons, a computer researcher and author of "Broken Ballots," a book documenting e-voting vulnerabilities. "Most people don't understand that these computer-based voting machines can have software bugs or even election-rigging malicious software in them."

There are plenty of software vulnerabilities to exploit, says Matt Blaze, a computer scientist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In 2007, he was on a team investigating touch-screen and other voting systems for California and Ohio. The resulting study concluded "virtually every important software security mechanism is vulnerable."

The paperless machines, however, stand out as particularly vulnerable.

"If there's no paper trail, you can have the corrupted software display on the voting-machine screen whatever you want to display – and then after the voter leaves, record something completely different inside," says Richard Kemmerer, a computer scientist who heads the University of California, Santa Barbara, Computer Security Group.

LENGTHY, but SO well done:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/2012/1026/Could-e-voting-machines-in-Election-2012-be-hacked-Yes

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/27/security-experts-say-new-electronic-voting-machines-can-be-hacked/

4 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Could e-voting machines in Election 2012 be hacked? YES! YES! YES! (Original Post) kpete Oct 2012 OP

We've covered this issue extensively both recently and for the past 12 years and... Columbus Free Press Oct 2012 #1

Really relieved to reading this! KaryninMiami Oct 2012 #2

Thanks and welcome to DU ThoughtCriminal Oct 2012 #3

good to know you're on the job! limpyhobbler Nov 2012 #4

Columbus Free Press

(141 posts)

1. We've covered this issue extensively both recently and for the past 12 years and...

Reply to kpete (Original post)

Sat Oct 27, 2012, 06:22 PM

Oct 2012

The Free Press will be conducting election monitoring and election defense in Ohio on election day. This is a major campaign and we need your help.

We have:

Access. Through our partnership with the Green Party, our election monitors can be in the polling places, watching the setup, voting, close out, and chain of custody of ballots and electronic ballot boxes. We can watch the tabulation operations at each county board of elections in Ohio. We have the same access as monitors from the Democratic and Republican Parties.

Lawyers. We have a few good lawyers who will be on hand in Columbus and Cincinnati to take affidavits and file for injunctive relief as needed. We will defend election monitors who are wrongfully arrested or harassed by local law enforcement and others in the course of exercising their citizen's rights.

An Operations Center We have a location with computers, video editing capability for our video the vote project, 2 radio stations and our website to make this project run smoothly.

Experience. We have been monitoring elections for 8 years. We know all the legal ins and outs, what to look for and where to go.

Intelligence. We have been extensively researching election fraud in Ohio. We are confident that we can send our monitors to where they are needed knowing what to look for.

What we need:

YOU! If you are a registered voter in the state of Ohio, and you contact us before Sunday the 4th, you can be an election monitor and participate as part of our team. There are 88 Counties in Ohio, and thousands of polling places. Get out and be the boots on the ground and help us stop this fraud before it happens. Contact us at truth@freepress.org to get involved.

Money. If you are not in Ohio, but you still wish to help, consider making some small donation to the Free Press. We are a small organization that lives on microdonations. Please earmark your donation for "election defense" so that we may spend your donation in line with stated donor intent. Donations to the Free Press in general wont make us cry either.

Social Media Force Multipliers: We need people to repost, chain email, flike. fshare, tweet, pin etc our election monitoring results. If you are far away you can still have a say.

Remember folks this is your Democracy. Yours to cherish and Yours to Defend. Governments dont defend democracy, Citizens do! Be in touch