Report Shows Hackability of Voting Machines

Threat Level's Kim Zetter, in a summary of a recent security survey of electronic voting machines made my Election Systems & Software:

They found that a voter or poll worker with a Palm Pilot and no more than a minute's access to a voting machine could surreptitiously re-calibrate the touch-screen so that it would prevent voters from voting for specific candidates or cause the machine to secretly record a voter's vote for a different candidate than the one the voter chose. Access to the screen calibration function requires no password, and the attacker's actions, the researchers say, would be indistinguishable from the normal behavior of a voter in front of a machine or of a pollworker starting up a machine in the morning.

Report: Magnet and PDA Sufficient to Change Votes on Voting Machine]

[#1 posted by mdhatter , December 18, 2007 5:19 AM]

Now we're only 7 years behind them.

[#2 posted by Anonymous , December 18, 2007 5:52 AM]

We bought one a few years back. They don't really work. Under the right conditions, with sticky wet snow, you might be able to form a snowball, but usually they just fall apart. Making snowballs by hand is just as quick and easy. Only good as a novelty. Sorry to dissappoint you.

[#3 posted by David D. , December 18, 2007 6:25 AM]

Ah, the voting machines make snowballs too? I thought they had to be useful for something.

Once again though, "only good as a novelty." Sigh.

[#4 posted by sonny p fontaine , December 18, 2007 6:16 PM]

tis true...we all got snowed

[#5 posted by Anonymous , December 24, 2007 4:47 AM]

I just don't get why these machines have ANY activated wireless functionality whatsoever. This just weakens the case for what should actually happen

- Shelon Padmore