Electronic Voting Machine Cracker Challenge

An anonymous reader writes "In the ongoing debate on the security of electronic voting, an Atlanta area programmer has confronted Georgia election officials on the potential for fraud in its statewide electronic voting system. She claims that she can be prepared to crack the system within a week, and officials have accepted the challenge." What makes this even more interesting is that the election officials are encouraging the woman, so that any possible exploit can be found and remedied.

Comments

SCO Voting

[McBride, Darl]

SCO's Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets are embedded within the Georgia voting system, and my lawyers assure me that this programmer will be vehemently prosecuted under the full extent of Georgia Law if this "crack" attempt is successful.

The Plan

[imbaczek]

1. Accept the challenge.
2. Make her win.
3. Fix holes.
4. Put her to jail on DMCA basis, or Patriot Act, or for desire to live and love for the country, or whatever.
5. ???
6. PROFIT!!!

(Hope #4 won't happen.)

It's a win-win (then lose) situation!

[Phantasmo]

She cracks it, reveals the expoit to them, they thank her, put fixing it on a "to do list", then knock her into prison with the mighty DMCA!

I can already hear the local news station:
"Computer hackers are trying to steal your votes! Politicans are asking that if you know ANYONE who both likes computers and is interested in voting that you report them to the police immediately. Film at eleven."

This is a hoax

[DarkAurora]

This is obviously a hoax. Everyone knows that there are no women in computer science. :)

I've been in college for a few years and I haven't seen a women since I stopped taking Gen. Ed. classes.

Re:This is a hoax

[panurge]

Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, author of Cobol.

Remember, those who know no history are doomed to repeat it. You, my friend, are therefore doomed to reinvent Cobol.

Re:Unrealistic trial

[myyrk]

I don't think even 1/2 of Georgia state can use a computer, much less be a cracker.

Thats where your wrong, because they are all crackers.

Who is this woman?

[Bob Cat - NYMPHS]

She's a webmaster with an interest in carnivorpus plants. She did this site.
http://www.cumbus2002.org/eco_rescue.htm
N ote the fucked up links on the bottom of the page. They point to c:.
She does not even have a web site for her web design business! AWEBPLACE.COM is registered to her company Southern Belle Software. Search for some of her posts to newsgroups for more dismaying info.

How about posting the code here, Roxanne? A 'few of your expert friends' will be happy to help you out.

New security audit methodology?

[D4C5CE]

Are they implying that a computer system is to be considered reliable just because one hacker/group did not find any (more) flaws in one specimen (not even "in the wild") at one given moment in time?
Auguste Kerckhoffs tourne dans sa tombe...
Whether she succeeds or fails does not prove a thing.
Since when do we attribute the most "l33t sk1llz" on earth to the first attacker, and then just assume we're safe to vote happily ever after?
The only route to go for the code that could finally make someone president is full disclosure. "Elected on Open Source" sounds a whole lot better than "four years under the rule of a computer glitch."

Is she crazy?

[codefungus]

I wouldn't do that. The next headline will be, "Cracker goes to jail for showing flaws in electronic voting system"...I mean, this is America...home of the patriot act and indefinate imprisonment without cause.