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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'."

1 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. 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."