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posted by takyon on Monday August 29 2016, @09:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the throwaway-votes dept.

In the run-up to the USA's upcoming national election event:

The FBI has uncovered evidence that foreign hackers penetrated two state election databases in recent weeks, prompting the bureau to warn election officials across the country to take new steps to enhance the security of their computer systems, according to federal and state law enforcement officials.

[...] [three days later] the FBI Cyber Division issued a potentially more disturbing warning, entitled "Targeting Activity Against State Board of Election Systems." The alert, labeled as restricted for "NEED TO KNOW recipients," disclosed that the bureau was investigating cyberintrusions against two state election websites this summer, including one that resulted in the "exfiltration," or theft, of voter registration data. "It was an eye opener," one senior law enforcement official said of the bureau's discovery of the intrusions. "We believe it's kind of serious, and we're investigating."

[...] six states and parts of four others (including large swaths of Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state in this year's race) are more vulnerable because they rely on paperless touchscreen voting, known as DREs or Direct-Recording Electronic voting machines, for which there are no paper ballot backups.

[...] the FBI warning seems likely to ramp up pressure on the Department of Homeland Security to formally designate state election systems as part of the nation's "critical infrastructure" requiring federal protection — a key step, advocates say, in forestalling the possibility of foreign government meddling in the election.

The reason designating election systems "critical infrastructure" requiring federal protection is important is that designation means the Feds devote resources to protecting it and threaten a heightened response to entities messing with "critical infrastructure."

[Continues...]

Related / more info:

Have you considered the impact on the US if the election for president is disrupted, with the winner unknown because the results are dependent upon the votes in one or more of the states with electronic-only voting systems? Some people might find it beneficial if the US election is disrupted or contested.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 30 2016, @10:10PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 30 2016, @10:10PM (#395471)

    So what if your boss requires you to snap a photo of your finished ballot in the voting booth? We can play that what if game forever, but after seeing long lines of people being disenfranchised of their vote this season, I have a lot respect for WA's system.

    You tell them it is a crime to take any cameras, cell phones, or other things into the polling place... at least it is in Virginia.

    I've not tried mailing voting, but on the outside it seems good. I'm concerned at the idea of things like "abusive spouse forces somebody to vote a certain way," but I'm guessing such a thing is an exceptional case which won't affect an election (any more than "abuse spouse traps somebody indoors on election day").

    Still, if there was widespread systemic abuses, how would the system catch and fix it? A quick search online found a pdf saying "remote voting systems such as vote-by-mail are generally regarded as providing inferior protection from coercion, and as such, their use is often discouraged by experts"... which could be incorrect but doesn't exactly inspire me with confidence.

  • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Thursday September 01 2016, @06:21AM

    by hemocyanin (186) on Thursday September 01 2016, @06:21AM (#396052) Journal

    Compared to standing 4-10 hours in the baking sun to find out the machines broke, mail-in is a gazillion times better. Besides, if you want a mail-in ballot in states with polling stations, you just ask for one -- now the annoying system is just as weak as the convenient system.

    Honestly, I used to think just like you and other naysayers, but after using the WA mail-in system, I love it. It is just better.