Post Investigation: These Florida voting machines ripe for Russian hackers, experts say

[diva77]

Criticism growing of state voter-tabulations systems, which are connected to the internet.
John Pacenti
Palm Beach Post updated 10-19-2020
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/2020/10/16/florida-voting-machines-ripe-russian-hackers-experts-say/3650817001/

Bad actors working for the likes of Russia and other nation-states are lurking on the internet, waiting for their chance to infiltrate the American voting system.

Florida may be ripe for the picking, computer scientists say, because numerous counties rely on voting machines that are drawing fire for their vulnerability to a cyberattack.

These computer scientists, along with election integrity groups familiar with the model that Palm Beach and 48 other counties use, say there are potentially numerous ways for a foreign entity to alter results.

They say that state election officials have accepted wholesale the spin from the manufacturer that these machines — which voters at polling places feed ballots into after marking candidates of their choice — are secure.

More:Why PBC took all night to count ballots despite new voting tech

“It has been asserted that voting machines are not vulnerable to remote hacking because they are never connected to the internet, but both the premise and the conclusion are false,” states a Sept. 15 letter sent to Florida’s Division of Elections by nearly 30 of the country’s top computer scientists and election integrity groups.

The experts urged the state to eliminate the use of wireless modems.

“Our elections remain under attack by the opponents of a free and fair democracy, who wish to compromise our election infrastructure to sow chaos, distrust, or even manipulate the election outcome,” the letter states.
SNIP

[Blue Owl]

1. K&R for exposure

[Doodley]

2. There is a reason why Trump doesn't like mail-in ballots.

[DFW]

3. Most of the voting machines are ripe for hackers.

My brother does projects for DARPA.

He said: "Give me a cell phone and a laptop, and I'll make any of those machines give whatever result you want, connected to the internet or not".

One other thing: he said this in 2002, and their software is largely the same as it was then.

[diva77]

12. I wonder why the SOS's don't listen to him

[DFW]

14. I don't think it's any secret at this point

When enough people (and the right people) want this to change, it will.

[malaise]

4. Florida was stolen in 2016

Just saying

[Botany]

7. Exit polls had Hillary winning easily

Bob Woodward's Book Also Contains an Update on the Russian Ratf*cking of Florida
Hackers reportedly placed malware in at least two county registration systems that could erase voters.

Information about Russian interference in Florida in 2016 has dribbled out over the years. In 2017, a leaked classified National Security Agency document said hackers had penetrated Tallahassee–based software vendor VR Systems and spoofed company emails. VR Systems, based in Tallahassee, now handles the voter registration database for every Florida county except Sarasota. The company has denied that it was hacked...

A few months after the Mueller report came out in 2019, a Senate intelligence report was released that suggested that Russians had penetrated up to four supervisor of elections offices. Officials have stressed that the 2016 breaches didn’t affect vote tallies or the result of the election. Voter registration systems are different than the systems that count votes.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a33978793/russian-hack-florida-election-systems-bob-woodward-book/

[malaise]

8. This too - How DeSantis got his swamp drained by Igor, Lev, and Russian cash

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20191015/how-desantis-got-his-swamp-drained-by-igor-lev-and-russian-cash

Gov. Ron DeSantis returns $50,000 in campaign cash from a pair of foreign-born South Florida businessmen who were buying pols with Russian cash

It’s good to see Florida’s self-professed swamp drainer, Gov. Ron DeSantis, has decided to give up some of that Russian “hoax” money that flowed into his campaign last year.

DeSantis’ office announced last week that it would be returning the $50,000 his campaign political committee, The Friends of Ron DeSantis, took from a sham start-up company called Global Energy Producers, which was neither global, nor energy producing.

It was a creation of Delaware corporate paperwork magic that facilitated the transfer of money from an unnamed Russia oligarch into the coffers of Republican candidates across America, according to a federal indictment filed last week.

At the time, DeSantis, an office-seeking acolyte of President Donald Trump — the recipient of $325,000 of the secret Russian donations — was a natural target for Kremlin cash.

[triron]

5. They altered the vote totals in 2016.

Hillary won Florida.

[ElementaryPenguin]

9. Harry Reid said they did - and it's clear that it happened in several states!

[triron]

10. Like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin (at least).

In America you can cheat to win the presidency and also win in baseball (Houston).

[soothsayer]

6. At least the Feds are briefing them

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214371773

[crickets]

11. There's no good reason for voting machines to be connected to the internet. None. nt

[pecosbob]

13. This State violated Floridians Constitutional rights under the 14th Amendment

By knowingly putting in place automated systems that can be manipulated to disenfranchise citizens.