Test of Electronic Balloting System Finds Major Security Flaws

[DUreader]

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0130-03.htm


Electronic voting machines from Diebold Inc. have computer security and physical security problems that might
allow corrupt insiders or determined outsiders to disrupt or even steal an election, according to a report presented
yesterday to Maryland state legislators.

But authors of the report Ñ which described the first official effort to hack
Diebold voting systems under election conditions Ñ were careful to say the
machines, if not hacked, count votes correctly. And they said the
vulnerabilities the exercise found could be addressed in a preliminary way
in time for the state's primaries in March.

"I don't want to beat people up," said Michael Wertheimer, a security expert
for RABA Technologies in Columbia, Md., who oversaw the exercise. "I
want to get an election that people can feel good about."

Further steps could be taken to ensure a safe general election in November,
the report concluded. But ultimately, it said, Diebold election software had
to be rewritten to meet industry security standards and limited use of paper
receipts to verify votes would be needed.


snip

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. this sotry is alive and well

thansk to Bev Harris and others who have toiled to get it here.

Now it is our job to keep it alive with our respective reps

[colonel odis]

2. ooops! machines don't work right. guess we can't have an election. n/t

[BeFree]

3. No election?

Who, besides you, feels that way?

If anyone tried to stop elections because of the crummy machines, they would be admitting that past elections were fraudalent. That ain't gonna happen.

I'm glad to see folks realize that the code used needs more security. Chances are that from now on the Diebold et al. code will no longer be top secret. In other words, it will have to become open source code if these type of vote counters are going to continue to be used.

After all the extra money spent on these machines, and all the problems coming from their use, Paper & Pencil looks better and better, eh?

[colonel odis]

7. that was, um, sarcasm. you know, when you highlight

the stupidity of something by saying something just as blatantly stupid. it's been used as a humor technique, a way to piss off parents, and all sorts of other things for hundreds of years.

[BeFree]

8. Hey colonel

Ya never know with the one liners we see around here. This issue is far too important for me to allow one liners like your's to go unanswered. There have been a few posters actually claiming that machine failures could be used to belay elections. And given your few post counts I didn't know if they were rearing their ugly head again. OK?

[colonel odis]

12. my head's ugly, but not that kind of ugly.

just clearing things up.

and, yes, there do seem to be some posts by folks i'd imagine to be sitting at their computer in a rep tie. ewwwwwww.

[mbperrin]

4. Gosh, who could have imagined there would be

problems with electronic paperless voting?


(Back to the heroin now)

[JohnOneillsMemory]

5. Let's watch out for accurate exit polls, too. These are neccessary. n/t

[Cooley Hurd]

6. But, hasn't VNS been disbanded?

During the 2k2 sham election, Voter News Service was shut down DURING the election. Weren't they disbanded since then? Is there another comparable entity that has replaced it?

[stevebreeze]

9. heard about this on NPR yesterday

One of the hackers picked the lock, plugged in a flexible keyboard, hit F2 and got full Admin authority. It was hysterical.

[mulethree]

10. spun

SOURCE Diebold, Incorporated

ANNAPOLIS, Md., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today, the Maryland Department of Legislative Services, based on the analysis by RABA Technologies, concludes that the March primary election can be held successfully without any changes to the Diebold Election Systems software. The software accurately counts votes cast and has the ability to render a printed image of every ballot cast in the event a recount is necessary.

"The findings in the SAIC and RABA reports both confirm the accuracy and security of Maryland's voting procedures and our voting systems as they exist today," said Bob Urosevich, president of Diebold Election Systems, Inc. "With that said, in our continued spirit of innovation and industry leadership, there will always be room for improvement and refinement. This is especially true in assuring the utmost security in elections."

http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=DBD&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=489744

[mulethree]

11. skip this - was a duplicate

.