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Reports Warn of the Next Big Hack That Could ‘Rig the Election’
Law Newz
by Chris White
8/2/2016
Excerpt:
In light of the recent reports about the hacks at the DNC, DCCC and Clinton campaign, several new reports out this week are examining the possibility of hacking voting machines. While there are currently no credible threats about hacking the vote in November, these reports present a somewhat troubling portrait about the country’s preparedness to deal with such an attack.
A new report on Tuesday in Wired says many of the problems we see today are a result of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. That act was passed with the goal of phasing out the punchcard systems that caused so many headaches in Florida during the 2000 election. Although the act succeeded in its primary goal of eliminating punchcard systems, it has also resulted in a number of new cybersecurity problems.
“People weren’t thinking about voting system security or all the additional challenges that come with electronic voting systems,” the Brennan Center’s Lawrence Norden told Wired. “Moving to electronic voting systems solved a lot of problems, but created a lot of new ones.”
The main problem, according to the report, is the software used in many of the electronic voting systems is outdated. Some systems still run on Windows XP, yet Microsoft has not released a security patch update for that system in over two-years. This obviously leaves the machines vulnerable to attacks. Not just attacks designed to potentially change recorded votes, but attacks that could slowdown the machines ability to process votes in a timely manner.
Norden explains, “If you have machines not working, or working slowly, that could create lots of problems too, preventing people from voting at all.”
Voter registration databases and county election commission websites are also under threat. According to NPR, election officials in Illinois last week shut down the state’s voter registration database after discovering a breach. In May, Florida law enforcement officials also reportedly arrested a man who gained access to the Lee County election website.
“Wherever there’s a fully electronic voting system, there’s potential for tampering of some kind,” Pamela Smith, president of Verified Voting, told NPR in an interview.
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View the complete article, including image, at:
http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/repo...-the-election/
Law Newz
by Chris White
8/2/2016
Excerpt:
In light of the recent reports about the hacks at the DNC, DCCC and Clinton campaign, several new reports out this week are examining the possibility of hacking voting machines. While there are currently no credible threats about hacking the vote in November, these reports present a somewhat troubling portrait about the country’s preparedness to deal with such an attack.
A new report on Tuesday in Wired says many of the problems we see today are a result of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. That act was passed with the goal of phasing out the punchcard systems that caused so many headaches in Florida during the 2000 election. Although the act succeeded in its primary goal of eliminating punchcard systems, it has also resulted in a number of new cybersecurity problems.
“People weren’t thinking about voting system security or all the additional challenges that come with electronic voting systems,” the Brennan Center’s Lawrence Norden told Wired. “Moving to electronic voting systems solved a lot of problems, but created a lot of new ones.”
The main problem, according to the report, is the software used in many of the electronic voting systems is outdated. Some systems still run on Windows XP, yet Microsoft has not released a security patch update for that system in over two-years. This obviously leaves the machines vulnerable to attacks. Not just attacks designed to potentially change recorded votes, but attacks that could slowdown the machines ability to process votes in a timely manner.
Norden explains, “If you have machines not working, or working slowly, that could create lots of problems too, preventing people from voting at all.”
Voter registration databases and county election commission websites are also under threat. According to NPR, election officials in Illinois last week shut down the state’s voter registration database after discovering a breach. In May, Florida law enforcement officials also reportedly arrested a man who gained access to the Lee County election website.
“Wherever there’s a fully electronic voting system, there’s potential for tampering of some kind,” Pamela Smith, president of Verified Voting, told NPR in an interview.
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View the complete article, including image, at:
http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/repo...-the-election/