It only takes $26 to hack a voting machine

It only takes $26 to hack a voting machine
Researchers demonstrated three different types of attacks

Campaigning for the 2012 presidential race has already begun, but what the candidates don't know is that come election day, hackers could be the ones whose votes have the biggest impact.

Researchers from the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois have developed a hack that, for about $26 and an 8th-grade science education, can remotely manipulate the electronic voting machines used by millions of voters all across the U.S.

The researchers, Salon reported, performed their proof-of-concept hack on a Diebold Accuvote TS electronic voting machine, a type of touchscreen Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting system that is widely used for government elections.

(Diebold's voting-machine business is now owned by the Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, whose e-voting machines are used in about 22 states.)

In a video, Roger Johnston and Jon Warner from Argonne National Laboratory's Vulnerability Assessment Team demonstrate three different ways an attacker could tamper with, and remotely take full control, of the e-voting machine simply by attaching what they call a piece of "alien electronics" into the machine's circuit board.

The electronic hacking tool consists of a $1.29 microprocessor and a circuit board that costs about $8. Together with the $15 remote control, which enabled the researchers to modify votes from up to a half-mile away, the whole hack runs about $26.

Two of the takeovers show the researchers controlling the buttons on the keypad despite what the "real" voter enters. But in what Warner called "probably the most relevant attack for vote tampering," the researchers were able to blank the e-voting machine's screen for a split-second after the "vote now" button was pressed. While the screen went dark, they remotely entered their own numbers into the DRE's keypad.

Johnston explained in the video: "When the voter hits the 'vote now' button to register his votes, we can blank the screen and then go back and vote differently and the voter will be unaware that this has happened."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44706301/ns ... -security/

Gee, we were reporting this stuff about 3 years ago... You can hear the surprise in *MY* voice....

As someone else here said so eloquently, "They can't win if they don't cheat."

Take a $ 1 billion to run an re-election campaign.

Unless the hackers are insiders, how exactly do they

simply by attaching what they call a piece of "alien electronics" into the machine's circuit board.

into the machine's circuit board." without it being detected????

ShilohLady wrote: Unless the hackers are insiders, how exactly do they

simply by attaching what they call a piece of "alien electronics" into the machine's circuit board.

into the machine's circuit board." without it being detected????

Consider the source. They are setting up the new meme. The know what is going to happen in '12.

What did Obama know and when did he know it?! Too bad Algore didn't have any insight into this hack... Who knows how much worse the US Gubmnet could have been.

Speaking of Al Gore, his advocates in the 2000 election claimed Democrat voters in Florida didn't know how to punch out a chad.

At least punching out a chad, as simple as it is, is the resposibility of the voter. Don't think that could be hacked.

And maybe that is much the reason why we later switched to the "infallible" computers?

pineinthegrass wrote: At least punching out a chad, as simple as it is, is the resposibility of the voter. Don't think that could be hacked.

LOL. I could not find a video but I remember seeing election officials of both strips peering and squinting at ballots with both eyes, each eye and from all angles trying to "discern the intent of the voter", IE how can I interpret this one for my guy.

ShilohLady wrote: Unless the hackers are insiders, how exactly do they

simply by attaching what they call a piece of "alien electronics" into the machine's circuit board.

into the machine's circuit board." without it being detected????

Exactly. It's not like someone driving by your house and taking over your computer through a wireless broadcast you have set up.

But, this sets the stage for the looser to make claims of tampering. Now that this has been brought to light, you would think there would be security that would check out each and every machine. No. That would make too much sense and takes away the ability to claim fraud.

They can't cheat if if it is a landslide!

Al Franken's fraudulent race is why we need to keep electing Republican Sec'y of States to make sure elections are clean.

The Daleys are finally out of power in Chicago, so it will be interesting to see if they continue to have more voters than the census counted citizens.

Not trying to feed the conspiracy theories here, but.....

Diebold makes ATM machines too. Why is it that an ATM machine is virtually hackproof, but a voting machine can be hacked with $26 in parts and an 8th grade education?