Most electronic voting systems can be hacked, CIA expert says, page 1

Most electronic voting systems can be hacked, CIA expert says

rawstory.com

A top CIA cybersecurity expert told the US Election Assistance Commission last month that most electronic voting systems are insecure, according to transcripts obtained by McClatchy Newspapers.

The comments, by CIA expert Steve Stigall, are sure to fuel a new wave of anxiety over electronic voting. Stigall said any voting machine connected to the Internet could be easily hacked, and that while numerous US states have banned voting machines from having wireless capability, some machines can have the cards installed without officials being aware

And,
an interesting sidenote:

Moreover, Stigall said that the CIA believes Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez may have fixed a recent recount in his favor using such tactics. Chavez, he said, controlled most of the voting machines used and may have provided the program that was used to "randomly" select machines for audit during a recount.

The voting machines Venezuela used were made by Smartmatic, a company that partnered with Chavez's government which was owned by US-based Sequoia systems until 2007. Sequoia also provides voting machines for the District of Columbia and 16 US states.

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Interestingly enough, the reason the CIA got so interested in the first place was because they thought foreigners might try to hack U.S election systems.

Electronic voting has always worried me. The article even goes on to claim paper receipts don't even assure security!

Paper receipts aren't a guarantor of electronic voting security, the CIA expert added, because the votes can be changed when or after they are transmitted to a master computer tabulating the votes or when they're posted online.

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Though it may not really be my cup of tea, I thought you ATSers might enjoy this article and its relation to possible....rigged elections....

Enjoy!!!!

rawstory.com
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