Diebold Source Code Leaked Again, page 1

posted on Oct, 22 2006 @ 10:26 PM

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Two disks were submitted by anonymous sources to legislator Cheryl C. Kagan of Maryland last Wednesday which contained the source code to the Diebold voting software Votingstation and GEMS.

www.co mputerworld.com
October 21, 2006 (IDG News Service) -- Source code to Diebold Election Systems Inc. voting machines has been leaked once again.

On Wednesday, former Maryland state legislator Cheryl C. Kagan was anonymously given disks containing source code to Diebold's BallotStation and GEMS (Global Election Management System) tabulation software used in the 2004 elections. Kagan, a well-known critic of electronic voting, is Executive Director of the Carl M. Freeman Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in Olney, Maryland.

The disks were created and distributed by two federal voting machine testing labs run by Ciber Inc. and Wyle Laboratories Inc. They had been testing systems on behalf of the state of Maryland, Diebold said in a statement.

This is not the first time that Diebold source code has been leaked. In early 2003, Diebold critic Bev Harris uncovered similar source code while conducting research using Google Inc.'s search engine.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

I was always for electronic voting and I had always hoped one day to see voting over the internet, however with companies like Diebold setting the example my opinion has changed drastically.
I am of the opinion either the source code is being leaked for one of two reasons

1. Someone is wishing to expose a weakness in the software
2. Someone is wishing to expose a weakness in the software

Yes I know both may look the same but the reasoning behind it may be different. Either someone wants to show there are weaknesses for good reasons or someone wants to show their are weaknesses so that someone may take advantage of those weaknesses. I would hope they would force a total re-write of their software package or a total replacement of the contractors for computerized voting machines. I would prefer to say Diebold should be replaced for their gross negligence more then a re-write. A patch still could leave openings.

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jsobecky

posted on Oct, 23 2006 @ 02:07 AM

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I am an advocate of electronic voting. I believe that it can be an effective tool if designed and managed properly. However, I agree that Diebold has managed to deliver an inferior product, although I differ with many people on the reasons why. I don't see it as a conspiracy as much as I see it as gross incompetence.

Regenmacher

posted on Oct, 23 2006 @ 02:48 AM

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The Brad Blog has been following the epic saga of Diebold for years and worth a look for those concerned about e-voting.

With the election only 16 days away, ABC World News worries "about another Florida style ballot fiasco" in tonight's e-voting segment. One major concern, it seems, is that e-voting machine maker Diebold's source code is turning up in random mail boxes, as BRADBLOG posted last Thursday. Yet, despite this latest revelation coming on the heels of a Princeton study evidencing the ease in which Diebold machines could be hacked, Diebold maintains everything is peachy.

www.bradblog.com...

Makes you wonder how makers of ATMs since the 1980's can make such a disaster in a voting machine, unless it was on purpose.

jsobecky

posted on Oct, 23 2006 @ 03:46 AM

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Originally posted by Regenmacher
Makes you wonder how makers of ATMs since the 1980's can make such a disaster in a voting machine, unless it was on purpose.

It's at times like this that I can understand somebody believing that I am wearing blinders for continuing to believe that it was nothing more than sheer incompetence on the part of Diebold. It's just that the alternative is too devastating to contemplate.

Regenmacher

posted on Oct, 23 2006 @ 06:09 AM

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Originally posted by jsobecky
It's at times like this that I can understand somebody believing that I am wearing blinders for continuing to believe that it was nothing more than sheer incompetence on the part of Diebold. It's just that the alternative is too devastating to contemplate.

It's hard for me to fathom how Diebold could remain incompetent for 5 years, still receive the majority of government contracts for touch screen machines and remain a profitable company by selling flawed products.

Voting glitches continue to worry election officials USA Today 9/14/2006

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

My solution was a mail-in ballot, which avoids lines, establishes a paper trail, and I can take my time in figuring out who half these clowns are.

Spartannic

posted on Oct, 23 2006 @ 07:10 AM

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nobody is ever gonna make a flawless system to vote , because i think it can't be done never heard the thingy: on every lock fits a key??? there are guys who live up here in europe who get payed to do nothing but staying at home and sit on their ass (ppl up here in belgium who don't work got like 1200$, while ppl who work have only some 500$ more

) the only thing most of my workless friends do is gaming, cracking the games and pissing guys like me of with their spare time to do!!! so when i tell u guys that the education up here is above the standard of the civilized word, u could draw ur own conclusions!!

[edit on 23-10-2006 by Spartannic]

Hal9000

posted on Oct, 23 2006 @ 07:31 AM

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I don't think any software will be completely hack proof, but I still think electronic voting still has advantages and is worth pursuing. The solution is very simple. Have the machine print out the cast ballot on paper inside the machine that is visible to voter to check. The issue of a paper trail has been pressed from the beginning, and anyone who opposes it is more than likely up to no good.

Regenmacher

posted on Oct, 23 2006 @ 01:35 PM

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It's miles from secure, hackproof or flawless.

Princeton students demonstarted you can hack into the machines, uploaded some code and subsequently change election results with absolutely no trace. With the source code and administrative over-ride passwords floating around like the latest pirated video game, that just about guarantees it will be a targeted by malcontents or crooks. Might as well call it a design feature, where a single person can change entire elections in very little time.

There are no paper trails or paper recounts in e-voting. If the system is tampered with, those Touch screen printouts "will not" be used to verify local counts.

Then there's last minute deliveries, improper setups, unskilled, untrained and shortages of poll workers to add into the soup de jour of pending e-voting sabotage.

Electronic Voting Machines Could Skew Elections
Cheryl Kagan, a former Maryland Democratic legislator, was shocked when she opened her mail Wednesday morning.

Inside, she discovered three computer discs. With them was an anonymous letter saying the discs contained the secret source code for vote-counting that could be used to alter the votes cast through Maryland's new electronic voting machines.

Gov. Robert Ehrlich, a Republican running for reelection, advised residents to vote by absentee ballot because he had no confidence in the machines.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Funny how they can make Lotto kiosks that aren't prone to so much fraud.

[edit on 23-10-2006 by Regenmacher]

Agit8dChop

posted on Oct, 23 2006 @ 03:44 PM

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I just started my own threat on this but a different twist
so ill add it here.

What happens when the democrats win..
and the republicans scream vote rigging?
The republicans are already declaring victory, due to the security and economy of the USA.
Surely everything since 911 being a maniuplation by the government isnt going to be 'given' away simply because the people made a choice?

Can the republicans, being they have all these nice new flash powers and laws...
declare a result, or declare a decision if they accuse the other party of election fraud?

What exactly can the dems do, if the republicans demand control of congress, because they cheated?
These discs ending up in a democrats hands seems suspicous.
why would you give the enemy proof of election fraud?
unless you want to frame them?

Regenmacher

posted on Oct, 23 2006 @ 05:10 PM

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Originally posted by Agit8dChop
why would you give the enemy proof of election fraud?
unless you want to frame them?

The source code is in anyone's hands. It has been leaked several times already, even showing up on torrent sites. Hackers don't need the discs or source code to crack into the system either.

If e-thieves want your vote, they can have it
Specifically, the researchers concluded:
• Malicious software running on a single voting machine can steal votes with little if any risk of detection. The malicious software can modify all of the records, audit logs, and counters kept by the voting machine so that even careful forensic examination of these records will find nothing amiss.
• Anyone with physical access to a voting machine or memory card that will later be inserted into a machine can install malicious software using a simple method that takes as little as one minute. In practice, poll workers and others often have unsupervised access to the machines, they noted.
• AccuVote-TS machines are susceptible to computer viruses that can spread malware "automatically and invisibly" from machine to machine during normal pre- and post-election activity.
• While some of these problems can be eliminated by improving Diebold's software, others can't be remedied without replacing the machines' hardware. Changes to election procedures would also be required to ensure security.

This isn't the first time Diebold's machines have come under scrutiny from the information security community. In the run-up to the 2004 election, many experts feared that voting irregularities tied to machine glitches would throw the outcome of the election into chaos and force a replay of the 2000 election debacle.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Maybe the grand plan is to call the election invalid and declare martial law.

[edit on 23-10-2006 by Regenmacher]

ThePieMaN

posted on Oct, 23 2006 @ 05:15 PM

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They really need to cease using these machines until a more secure means of electronic voting is enabled. This is just ridiculous if they are going to actually even think of using these machines this November.

Pie