HBO's 'Kill Chain' doc highlights the flaws in US election machines:
While COVID-19 might be putting just about everything else on hold, we're still marching towards a presidential election later this year. After the high-profile interference of 2016, election security and foreign meddling are still critical issues, but many states still aren't doing enough to ensure the integrity of the process. A documentary premiering tonight on HBO proves a sobering reminder of the fragility of America's voting infrastructure.
While the matter is of grave concern across the country, Kill Chain: The Cyber War on America's Elections delves into problems with some specific machines and issues in certain states. For instance, back in 2005, security researcher Harri Hursti (a key figure in the film) demonstrated a memory card exploit that could alter votes on an optical scan voting machine. Those Diebold machines are still in operation in 20 states and are slated for use in November, the filmmakers note.
Elsewhere, a judge banned Georgia from continuing to use the vulnerable systems it had in place for well over a decade. In the wake of the contentious 2018 gubernatorial election, officials had new machines in place for this month's presidential primary. While the replacements can print paper ballots, which are important for proper vote auditing, they're still very much vulnerable as they run on Windows 7 -- for which Microsoft recently ended support.
We also hear from an Indian hacker who says he was able to gain full access to Alaska's system, including live voting data, during the 2016 presidential election. He claims he'd have been able to remove a candidate from the ballot or change any vote, but decided not to for fear of triggering some kind of alarm.
(Score: 2) by crafoo on Sunday March 29 2020, @01:57PM
We spend just enough on the tech and publicity to keep the majority relatively quiet. Federal elections are 100% smoke and mirror BS. It doesn't even matter who "wins". Local elections - you can still make a difference there with a vote, or better yet, running for an office yourself.
You know, if the states had the power (and cash) they should, and the federal government was sized down to what it is actually supposed to do, things would probably work out all right. It's much easier to accurately audit a local election, and the officials and candidates are close at hand if there needs to be a ... discussion. There is some hope of accountability for local elections.