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Internet Voting Hack Alters PDF Ballots In Transmission
msm1267 (2804139) writes Threats to the integrity of Internet voting have been a major factor in keeping the practice to a bare minimum in the United States. On the heels of the recent midterm elections, researchers at Galois, a computer science research and development firm in Portland, Ore., sent another reminder to decision makers and voters that things still aren't where they should be. Researchers Daniel M. Zimmerman and Joseph R. Kiniry published a paper called 'Modifying an Off-the-Shelf Wireless Router for PDF Ballot Tampering' that explains an attack against common home routers that would allow a hacker to intercept a PDF ballot and use another technique to modify a ballot before sending it along to an election authority. The attack relies on a hacker first replacing the embedded Linux firmware running on a home router. Once a hacker is able to sit in the traffic stream, they will be able to intercept a ballot in traffic and modify code strings representing votes and candidates within the PDF to change the submitted votes.
Clearly, this would never happen outside of an academic setting. Who would bother?
Does it matter, who?
No computer is suited for elections. They need constant verification, which they are not getting.
And I sure do hear a lot of people saying, *I didn't vote for that!*, more than usual, but I don't expect anything to come of it. Everybody is just too conditioned to write off such talk as crazy.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Snide answer: How about getting off your ass and actually going to the polling place to vote?
More contemplative answer: How do you actually prove the person behind the keyboard is the registered voter in question, even if your system is totally secure from threats in transit? How do you prove they're not being unduly influenced, perhaps by an employer or other person with a financial sword to hold over their head? This can be precluded in the polling place with a secret ballot; it can not be prevented if people are voting via computer or absentee. (*)
(*) Obviously allowances need to be made for people who are disabled or otherwise unable to make it to the polls, but I fail to see why an otherwise able bodied adult should regard a trip to the polling place as onerous.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Clearly, this would never happen outside of an academic setting. Who would bother?
Does it matter, who?
The outcome of elections are worth billions to vested interest groups. $4 billion was donated to candidates and PACs in the months preceding the election on November 4th. Many, many, people would "bother".
Seriously?
Whats wrong with paper?
Lots of systems for automatically dealing with it. Unique and irrefutable record. Easy to recount. Don't like one machine? Design a better one to scan and count. People really pissed off? Count those SOBs one at a time in front of a crowd on a big-screen TV.
Ballot boxes are easily placed out in the open; they're easily observed and tracked by as many people as would like to. The entire way through the process.
Lots of very large, modern democracies just use paper. Including your neighbours up north. X marks the spot.
Crazy.
..don't panic
When you keep the divisions within the margin of error, it is very easy to push the results one way or the other without raising suspicion, and any possible evidence is very easy to hide, or destroy, as the case may be. But without that, it is not difficult to trace means and motive, and only one conclusion can be drawn. Why should I ever give the authorities the benefit of the doubt? Isn't 10,000 years of precedence enough?
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
How is this even noteworthy technologically? He's assuming he can modify the router firmware. "If I completely replace the software handling my data, I can change the data!" Seriously? That's the dumbest, most obvious thing possible.
$_ = "wftedskaebjgdpjgidbsmnjgcdwatb"; tr/a-z/oh, turtleneck Phrase Jar!/; print