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Diebold Security Foiled Again

XenoPhage writes "Yet again, Diebold has shown their security prowess. This time they posted, on their website, a picture of the actual key used to open all of their Diebold voting machines. Ross Kinard of Sploitcast crafted three keys based on this photo. Amazingly enough, two of the three keys successfully opened one of the voting machines. But fear not, Diebold has removed the offending picture, replacing it with a picture of their digital card key. Take that, hackers!"

12 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. Still in business by j00r0m4nc3r · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How can these guys still be in business? It seems like every couple weeks for the past 3 or 4 years I have been hearing about them screwing shit up, over and over and over and over again. Any other company would have been history long ago. What's with Diebold? Why don't they die?

    1. Re:Still in business by aquabat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Two words: Government Contracts.

      --
      A republic cannot succeed till it contains a certain body of men imbued with the principles of justice and honour.
    2. Re:Still in business by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Interesting
      How can these guys still be in business? It seems like every couple weeks for the past 3 or 4 years I have been hearing about them screwing shit up, over and over and over and over again. Any other company would have been history long ago. What's with Diebold? Why don't they die?

      That's because they aren't being viewed with a critical eye by the people buying voting machines.

      The people who are making those decisions continue to want to have the voting machines in the face of all of the evidence showing how unsecure/not-tamper-proof these things really are.

      Apparently, the government doesn't seem too bothered by a vendor who is selling a product which is completely insecure.

      Cheers
      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    3. Re:Still in business by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Informative
      What's with Diebold? Why don't they die?

      I believe the following will explain: "The company came under fire last year for a letter that Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell wrote as a fundraising pitch to Republicans. In the letter, O'Dell said he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president." Diebold is based in North Canton, Ohio." (http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/30/technology/electi on_diebold/index.htm)

      Frankly no one in power really seems to want a fair election. If they did, they'd be fighting these e-voting machines all the way - as there is absolutely no need for them.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:Still in business by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      "DieBold, Die" is German for "The, Bold, The" - Bob

  2. DieBold Security..... by Prysorra · · Score: 5, Funny

    To Boldy die where no security has died before!

  3. National Election Commision by ghoul · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The way to get rid of election controversies is to have a national election commission like in India. India has a lot more voters than the US and a much lower level of education but it manages to pull off general elections a lot more cleanly and fairly just because the standards are same for all elections and all precincts. The decentralized form of elections might have made sense for the age of horse coaches but in the age of internet it is not too tough to have thge same standards everywhere in the US

    Also why not have a paper trail .With a paper backup all fraud can be caught given enough time for recounts (again if elections are not controlled by local partisan officials they cant arbitrarily decide not to have recounts).

    --
    **Life is too short to be serious**
  4. It's a pin-based lock? by RyanFenton · · Score: 5, Informative

    As long as it's a normal lock, like 90+% of the locks out there (likely including your own front door), then Lock bumping is going to allow just about any person, regardless of skill, to defeat the lock using extremely simple tools, in a matter of seconds, likely with no signs of intrusion at all.

    Ryan Fenton

  5. Winner by liak12345 · · Score: 5, Funny
    This time they posted, on their website, a picture of the actual key used to open all of their Diebold voting machines.
    Diebold just won the golden "Are You Fucking Kidding Me?" Award of 2007.
  6. Florida House 13 by bloodstar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why are people ignoring what is going on in Florida House District 13?

    The Rebublicans are claiming a 369 vote victory. However the EVMs in Sarasota county, reported an undervote of 18,000. or 1 in 6 of the total votes, which is much higher than the undervote in both the other counties and on average. Sarasota County also happened to be where the Democrat challenger won the vote by 6 percentage points (of the votes cast in that county).

    There are some obviously severe issues with Electronic Voting, Particularly when there is no paper trail (as in the case for this district). Sure, there are ways to change the vote on a paper verification ballot, however large scale fraud becomes problematic to implement.

    Links Below:
    http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section ?CATEGORY=NEWS0521&template=ovr2
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida's_13th_congre ssional_district
    http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.ph p?id=6423
    http://www.cqpolitics.com/2006/12/the_cqpolitics_i nterview_chris_1.html

    --
    "The bass, the rock, the mic, the treble. I like my coffee black, just like my metal" - Mindless Self Indulgence
  7. Re:Its from the please-think-then-vote dept. by PeeAitchPee · · Score: 5, Informative

    Perhaps you can explain why Maryland's previous Republican governor Robert Ehrlich fought against the Diebold machines tooth and nail, even asking for millions of dollars instead to support a traditional election process, only to have them rammed down his throat by the (Democratic) MD legislature and state board of elections? Our state elections administrator, Democrat Linda H. Lamone is still fighting their removal and even against adding a paper trail! Hell, she doesn't even want printers because she says adding printers to the existing equipment "would disrupt the voting system."

    If you think the Republicans are the only ones who want to use Diebold machines to manipulate votes, you're an idiot.

  8. Better yet... by eclectro · · Score: 5, Funny

    A picture is worth a thousand votes.

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"