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How To Hack an Election (bloomberg.com)

"For eight years, Andres Sepulveda, now 31, says he traveled the continent rigging major political campaigns..." writes Bloomberg, citing elections in Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Venezuela. Sepulveda says he was bankrolled by a political consultant in Miami, and his services involved everything from phone tapping and cracking donor databases to managing thousands of fake Twitter profiles. While Sepulveda wasn't always successful, in 2012, "He led a team of hackers that stole campaign strategies, manipulated social media to create false waves of enthusiasm and derision, and installed spyware in opposition offices, all to help Pena Nieto, a right-of-center candidate, eke out a victory." Now serving 10 years in prison in Colombia, Sepulveda is telling his story in hopes of a reduced sentence - and to warn the public that hackers are affecting modern elections, and that specialized skills will be need to stop them.

"On the question of whether the U.S. presidential campaign is being tampered with, he is unequivocal. 'I'm 100 percent sure it is'."

60 comments

  1. Give Him a Break by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He was just a Researcher trying to expose vulnerabilities.

  2. Not necessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Tampering with elections is legal in the USA. It's ratified by Citizens United.

    1. Re:Not necessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Tampering with elections is legal in the USA. It's ratified by Citizens United.

      Oh, STFU you idiotic waste of protoplasm and oxygen.

      The ONE BILLION DOLLARS public employee unions have donated to DEMOCRATS has probably been the most corrupting force in US history.

      Because it's basically made one party the party of government FOR the government BY the government.

      And FUCK EVERYONE ELSE.

      Have Democrats really helped minority unemployment? Minority poverty rates?

    2. Re:Not necessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's been established by the SCOTUS that tampering is speech. Preventing tampering is morally and logically equivalent to suppressing the first amendment.
      --
      roman_mir

    3. Re:Not necessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That just shows that most corporate campaign donations went to democrats, not just civil unions.

    4. Re:Not necessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol, you site opensecrets.org

      what a rube!

    5. Re:Not necessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As soon as someone talks down about:
      Democrats
      Republicans
      conservatives
      liberals
      right-wingers
      left-wingers
      bleeding hearts
      fat cats
      or uses any other divisive or put-down terminology, I stop listening.

      There is ONE party in the United States: the Ruling Party. That that party happens to have two factions (the Republicans and Democrats) that loudly disagree about a fraction of one percent of their ideology does not make them different. It is grandstanding to maintain the illusion that different parties exist. At a national level, it's all a lie.

      SuperPACs are a political nightmare, and a guarantee that for the most part, the vote of the common man is completely irrelevant. And both "sides" use them to subvert the political process.

      Make no mistake: there are NO clean hands in politics.

  3. That's not hacking an election. by VMaN · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That's just regular spying, not actually changing the vote counts.

    1. Re:That's not hacking an election. by davide+marney · · Score: 1

      That's not even spying, that's just normal attempted media manipulation. I am shocked, shocked that there are bots on social media!

      Here's the thing: regular voters aren't swayed by social media or advertisements, and it's regular, reliable voters who get the job done because they show up at the polls on time and properly documented.

      --
      "We receive as friendly that which agrees with, we resist with dislike that which opposes us" - Faraday
  4. Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someone said "hacking", so that's proof and everything. No need to bother with evidenca, deliberation, and all the rest, just lock'em up already. That law against "computer hacking" is very handy indeed. It's the only law you need!

  5. Re:Bloomberg fail by fyngyrz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You're citing Bloomberg, which is basically the American version of Russia Today. Propaganda machine.

    You're citing journalism, which is basically the American version of Russia Today. Propaganda machine.

    FTFY

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  6. I'm a hacker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'll say it....proper English will be a start.

  7. Trump springs to mind by danhuby · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "manipulated social media to create false waves of enthusiasm and derision"

    Trump hired people to cheer at his rallies. Doesn't seem too much of a stretch to assume he does the same thing online too.

    1. Re:Trump springs to mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So did Obama AND Bernie AND Hillary. Doesn't seem too much of a stretch to aasume they've done the same thing online too.

      Perhaps you've heard of a view? Tinder?

    2. Re:Trump springs to mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Liar.

    3. Re:Trump springs to mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Truth. Get your head out of your ass.

    4. Re: Trump springs to mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Evidence?

    5. Re: Trump springs to mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Evidence? Nah, I'll just call you a Nazi if you disagree, therefore winning the argument.

    6. Re:Trump springs to mind by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      while the dem campaigns have relied on actual people

      Who come out to events and protests because they are paid with money from George Soros, Tom Steyer, or the Sandlers.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    7. Re:Trump springs to mind by Rob+Y. · · Score: 3, Interesting

      So clever of you to repeat the oft Fox-cited list of exactly 3 Democratic rich donors. It's a matter of degree, dontcha think? There are hundreds of Republican rich folks doing a lot more than paying for busses to get people to vote. The Koch's alone have pledged 900 million. And that's not to mention the various billionaires who have brought out their individual Republican candidates practically bearing their logos. And of course your 3 aren't angling for any direct personal benefits, either. Sure, they have pet causes that the Democrats they support favor - but those causes aren't their bottom lines.

      And don't start with Hillary's super-PAC. The Bernie bots may think it's equivalent to what the Republicans have, but it's nothing like it. Sure, it's good old fashioned influence peddling, no doubt. But it's not out and out candidate purchase like you see on the Republican side.

      --
      Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
    8. Re:Trump springs to mind by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1, Troll

      Except that the evidence suggests that more of the rich support Democrats than support Republicans. Just look at how the richest counties vote. The majority of the richest counties have voted Democrat for years. (BTW, I did not list three, I listed four: the Sandlers are two people...and you might want to look into how they made their fortunes. If anybody should go to jail for the financial mess in 2008, they head the list). You, also, might want to look into the complicated web of interlocking "charities" which George Soros funds.
      Also, having never watched Fox News I could not tell you if they have cited these four people. What I find funny is that you complain about the four I cite, yet whenever this comes up Democrats like you cite just two, the Koch brothers. If you would like, I can list some more billionaires who spend their money buying Democrats: Bill Gates, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Bloomberg, etc.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    9. Re: Trump springs to mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Godwined

    10. Re:Trump springs to mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What I find funny is that you complain about the four I cite, yet whenever this comes up Democrats like you cite just two, the Koch brothers.

      And I say a pox on all your houses.

    11. Re:Trump springs to mind by phantomfive · · Score: 0

      So clever of you to repeat the oft Fox-cited list of exactly 3 Democratic rich donors. It's a matter of degree, dontcha think? There are hundreds of Republican rich folks doing a lot more than paying for busses to get people to vote. The Koch's alone have pledged 900 million.

      The irony here is that you only named the rich Republican donor that always gets repeated by liberals.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    12. Re:Trump springs to mind by Rob+Y. · · Score: 1

      That's because I figured everybody knows the rest. Adleson, Schiafe. Murdoch. There are lots of them. Every Republican hopeful in the 2012 primary season had their very own billionaire benefactor. This time it hasn't gotten as much attention, because the Media is coming in it's pants over the Trump circus. But they're pulling the strings now too. And these guys not only fund candidates, they fund the think tanks that figure out how to put a middle-class friendly face on policies that, if anything, focus on favoring passive income over wage income, and hobbling government's ability to regulate environmental polluters and employers.

      I don't doubt that some of these folks actually believe the Ayn Rand fantasies they read in high school. But it's a very convenient belief that paints inherited wealth as a form of nobility. And I suppose I'm not outraged that these guys think this way. I'm more outraged at how cynically they've been able to manipulate peoples' religious and, yes, racial beliefs to stay in control. The one plus about Trump is that it's laying all this bare to the extent that the media has begun to realize how well they've been manipulated over the years. Thinking and reporting that 'values voters' were a real thing, when they're just a bunch of disenfranchised sad sacks that figured they had nothing else to gain...

      --
      Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
    13. Re:Trump springs to mind by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      That's because I figured everybody knows the rest.

      Maybe that's why you said it. But it sure looks like you are merely parroting patterns that you learned from the media you consume.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    14. Re:Trump springs to mind by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Fascinating, the troll moderators are out in force. I am modded troll for pointing out that there are more rich donors to Democrats, while the person who complains that I only named the "three Fox-cited" rich donors (when in fact I cited four...the Sandlers are two people), can only cite two rich donors to Republicans...the two shibboleths of the Democratic Party, the Koch brothers. And he gets modded interesting.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
  8. Consultants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why do you think Bernie Sanders' campaign is paying Tad Devine's group $800K a month? (And why Sanders doesn't require CVV codes for credit card donations?)

  9. Re:Who cares ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since citizen united , money talk and win the US election. So fake twitter and getting some list in the grand scheme won't do much.

    Money don't talk. They take oath and swear.

  10. Because.., by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    He's running against a Clinton. There are no rules.

    1. Re: Because.., by Frankzy · · Score: 1

      All's fair in love and war... And when campaigning against Clinton

  11. "Hack" the election by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How quaint. This has been going on since the very first vote.

    How the dead voted for JFK. How ballot boxes of votes go missing or magically appear. How recent elections have had 100% PLUS turnout and nobody bats an eye.

    Then you don't even NEED to game the ballots when you can just override the votes altogether has is happening to both Bernie and Trump by their respective political parties.

    But whoa... yeah, watch out for sockpuppet accounts...

    Sincerely
    Silence Do Goode.

  12. The answer to this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    While nothing can be done about manipulation of the masses, except education.
    Vote rigging and tampering is a problem that can be solved.

    What it would require is a global standard for secure electronic voting.
    https://www.democracycounts.org is trying to do just that.

    The proposed standard covers everything from the development and verification of software (all opensource of course), to how machines are to be setup and configured as well as how to prevent tampering and hacking.
    It provides an irrefutable record of the vote that can stand up to challenges in a court of law.

    Right now they aren't talking so much about the standard they are trying to get through.
    Right now they are just trying to draw enough attention to these exact problems so that they can gain critical mass. Speaking as someone who has helped them architect the solution, getting this system in front of ISO and hammering out a proper standard that is secure, verifiable, auditable and yet still allows for secret balloting, is the main thrust of what they are trying to accomplish.

    I encourage you to visit them, checkout what they're about and become part of the discussion.

    1. Re: The answer to this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Or, you know, paper. Alongside secure chains of custody with multiple independent witnesses.

  13. Re:Bloomberg fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now come on, it can't be that bad.

  14. WRT the U.S., the scandal isn't what's a crime.... by guevera · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ....the scandal is what's legal.

  15. Created False Waves of Enthusiasm and Derision. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Created False Waves of Enthusiasm and Derision"

    So I take it he works as a DNC Super Delegate? Or maybe as a US media journalist or news agency.

    Seems to be about all they are good for as they refuse to actually cover the news since they are too busy trying to twist it to what they wish it to be.

  16. Is it really hacking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When it's just some excel file anyone with any USB stick can edit the results of?

    Kinda feels like calling someone a pilot for having fallen off their roof.

    1. Re:Is it really hacking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They are typically xml files... get it right.

  17. Hacking the mind by Etherwalk · · Score: 1

    That's just regular spying, not actually changing the vote counts.

    Regular spying on opposition machines is not something you should be saying "just" about.

    Mass manipulation of social media to change the political narrative at a given time is an incredibly powerful and insidious tool, and a window into what is going to happen with AI in elections a few decades away.

    1. Re:Hacking the mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That's just regular spying, not actually changing the vote counts.

      Regular spying on opposition machines is not something you should be saying "just" about.

      Mass manipulation of social media to change the political narrative at a given time is an incredibly powerful and insidious tool, and a window into what is going to happen with AI in elections a few decades away.

      And the media does this every day. Be it Fox News or BuzzFeed, mass manipulation will always occur as long as we have free speech.

    2. Re:Hacking the mind by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Never forget Arizona, straight up corruption of the electoral process to favour insiders and not even pretending to be otherwise and straight up lying in the electorates face when caught out and not even caring that the lies are exposed. Pretty much "We stole your election, so fucking what, it's your fault?, piss off". The US administration, the current group of insiders, not saying a word because if favours them and they support it. They got away with it in Arizona, so how many more states are going to follow suit, simply shrink the number of polling stations, make it hard to get to them, focus all remaining polling stations in localities where you can dominate the vote. Worked in Arizona with no, zero, zip legal repercussions, so it can work in the rest of the US.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    3. Re:Hacking the mind by ThatsMyNick · · Score: 1

      What? The republican state administration is not happy about a trump win (or a hillary win if you think they are conspiring with the democrats). They are not going "we stole your election". Their favored candidate lost. Seriously what the hell is this about?

  18. and the sky is blue..... by Immostlyharmless · · Score: 2

    "..."On the question of whether the U.S. presidential campaign is being tampered with, he is unequivocal. 'I'm 100 percent sure it is'."..."

    I voted in Arizona, didn't need a hacker to tell me that.

  19. No hacking needed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No hacking necessary, just need 5 bought and paid for conservative justices on the supreme court.

  20. Closer to Home by jimbrooking · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you think the US elections are fair, you might read this article: http://www.salon.com/2016/04/0... We may have heard of gerrymandering, but what's happening in the USA, state by state, goes well beyond simple map-redrawing. I thought I was fairly politically literate, but was really shocked when I read this. And it's all apparently legitimate. That is to say it gives the appearance of being legal and it hasn't been challenged on court, that I know of, but it certainly belies the principle of "one person, one vote."

    1. Re:Closer to Home by davide+marney · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the article, it was very informative. However, it did not convince me that gerrymandering benefits the Republicans more than the Democrats.

      Prior to 2010, the Democrats out-gerrymandered the Republicans 172 districts to 5. After the Republicans started sweeping the state elections, they out-gerrymandered the Democrats 193 districts to 44.

      Seems like the Democrats had the better of it when they were in the majority. The problem is that Democrats are losing their majority, not that the Republicans are out-classing them at gerrymandering.

      No doubt this, too, shall change. The pendulum swings.

      --
      "We receive as friendly that which agrees with, we resist with dislike that which opposes us" - Faraday
  21. Wasn't this an episode of Mission: Impossible? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This guy is Barney Collier..

  22. Re:Bloomberg fail by readin · · Score: 1

    Maybe it's not quite as bad as Russia Today, but American Journalism is pretty bad. For example, if you're not living in America consider what you and most of your friends think of American conservatives based on what they hear from American media. And I understand. If I didn't pay careful attention to the news and get multiple sources because I'm an American, and if didn't live among many American conservatives, I too would think American conservatives are a bunch of hateful racist redneck dogmatic intolerant violence loving hillbillies based on what I see and hear on CNN, NPR, the Washington Post, the New York Times, ABC, CBS, and NBC.

    Conservatives are as likely to be nice people as liberals. They donate more to charities than liberals. Believe it or not they love their children and care about their communities. And just like liberals some are very stupid and some are very intelligent. But you wouldn't know it from watching American journalism.

    --
    I often don't like the choices people make, but I like the fact that people make choices. That's why I'm a conservative.
  23. Biggest quote from the whole article... by l0n3s0m3phr34k · · Score: 1

    In the very last paragraph: "But Rendón says he’s in talks with another leading U.S. presidential campaign—he wouldn’t say which—to begin working for it once the primaries wrap up and the general election begins." Gee, he said he won't work for Trump because he doesn't like him. Bernie would never stoop this low. Therefor, that leaves Hillary Clinton. Sounds like something she would do.

  24. Pena Nieto Right-of-Center? by free779 · · Score: 1

    Calling Pena Nieto right-of-center really decreases my confidence in any part of the story.

  25. Drone The Bohemian Grove 2016! by igobyjoshua · · Score: 1

    Wait... I forgot...... Does Obama dump the screaming new born kids in the fire @ Bohemian Grove during the Cremation of Care Ritual , OR Just the High Priest? Drone The Grove 2016! Yes Grandma, for the last time there will be countless wave after wave of Drones flying above the Bohemian Grove streaming the Cremation of Care Ritual to YouTube and CNN, get over it and take your pills silly...

  26. Re:Bloomberg fail by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

    This is true. In fact the same thing is often said about Conservatives in congress. They are nice, likeable people when you get to know them. And yet the policies they support are still abhorrent and completely fitting the hateful racist redneck dogmatic intolerant violence loving hillbillies stereotype.

    --
    We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
  27. Internet and electronic voting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The less a person knows about computer security and the ease by which these machines can be remotely controlled, the more they support Internet and electronic voting. It is a solid and unvarying equation.

    It is fashionable to use iPads and smartphones to do things, but perhaps there is a significant value in spending the time to physically go to a polling place, be identified, and putting hand to paper. That should be the price of having a say in your future and the future of society. Is this too hard to do for the sake of accurate voting?