Warning: This Product Is Hazardous To Your Freedom
By Rady Ananda and Andi Novick
Top shelf, the crème de la crème, the most succinct, in-plain-English, best quotes by computer security experts.Do we really want to vote on this "crap?"
"...testing to high degrees of security and reliability is from a practical perspectivenot possible."
"...insufficient to guarantee a trustworthy election."
"... provides the opportunity for new kinds of attacks, from new kinds of attackers."
"An attack could plausibly be accomplished by a single skilled individual with temporary access to a single voting machine. The damage could be extensive – malicious code could spread to every voting machine in polling places and to county election servers."
"... numerous studies have shown that currently deployed voting systems are susceptible to undetectable malicious attacks...."
"Malware in a voting system could be designed to operate in very subtle ways.... be inserted at any of a number of different stages ... from the precinct all the way back to initial manufacture - and lie in wait for the appropriate moment."
"This is a classic computer security problem. Whoever gets into the machine first wins. So if the Trojan horse software is in there first, you ask it to test itself -- it will always lie to you and tell you everything is fine."
"There would be no way to know that any of these attacks occurred...."
"...'logic-and-accuracy testing' ... will never be comprehensive; important flaws will always escape any amount of testing."
"The current certification process may have been appropriate [with] a 900 lb lever voting machine.... But software is different.... you cannot certify an electronic voting machine the way you certify a lever machine.... we absolutely expect that vulnerabilities will be discovered all the time...."
"A certification system that requires freezing a version in stone is doomed to failure because of the inherent nature of software."
"... vulnerability of the system to malware infection and manipulation. ... large possibility that they could implement malicious programming (malware) into the system with little chance of detection. ...could likely spread from component to component throughout the system."
"... the lack of capability to detect and report potential malware attacks against the system makes it the single largest threat."
In 2004, Rady Ananda joined the growing community of citizen journalists. Focused mainly on elections, her blogs also address religious, gender, sexual and racial equality, as well as environmental issues; and are sprinkled with book and film reviews on various topics. She spent most of her working life as a legal investigator for private lawyers, and five years as an editor. She currently serves as a senior editor at OpEdNews.
All material offered here is the property of Rady Ananda, copyright 2006, 2007, 2008. Permission is granted to repost, with proper attribution including the original link.
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." Tell the truth anyway.
Secret Vote Counting is DANGEROUS and UNCONSTITUTIONAL
Keep up the great work Rady and Andi!!! After a great collection of reminders that using computers to count our votes in secret is dangerously unreliable, I wanted to remind readers that it is also unconstitutional.
Yes, Virginia, your elections are unconstitutional, and frankly, no one in power gives a damn! Technically, they say that they did not know that computers count in secret, that Virginia's Constitutional prohibition against counting votes in secret isn't really clear and doesn't Federal law control everything any way, and that no one even really thought about this secret vote counting issue that they know of. If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you, cheap. Just send cash, and I’ll send the papers right away. Here is a link to the video of my conversation with Virginia’s Board of Elections staff http://markadams.blip.tv/file/665536/
....and hazardous to our HEALTH (....jus' riffin' )
....perhaps we can lobby C. Everett Koop in his emeritus capacity, to attach a red bordered sticker to all voting machine screens and displays, prominently affixed: "These machines may be hazardous to your HEALTH."
The connection is clear: by subverting the voting process, these huge and proprietary corporations intimately in league with the voting vendors have jeopardized all life on the planet, not to mention our health at home.
As poll numbers go way beyond critical mass in showing the overwhelming public demand to join the ranks of civilized nations in offering SOME kind of health care for its citizens ( Michael Moore in "Sicko" points out that we are the ONLY nation in the entire Western Hemisphere that does not have A plan ) the corporations have used these machines to trump the overwhelming will and wishes of the majority of us Americans. Many of these corporations are not even American, in any way, other than, perhaps, the obligatory red white and blue logo or brand. ( Reminds me of the Simpsons episode, where Bart is entering a thingly veiled version of WalMart on Xmas Day, with the banner in the background: "Open All Day Christmas in Honor of Our Savior's Birth." ) But, they are acting in cahoots and "fascist" ( as in the Roman bundle of "fasces" where a group of rods are corded together to make the whole that much more unbreakable ) interests in harnessing machines and all techniques available to thieve our votes. Chief among them is holding us hostage by denying us any real opportunity to get, as Tommy Douglas put it decades ago in Canada when he sparked a national movement to nationalize health care, "our health in good order."
Without health, without hope, these fascist interests can begin to push us about like items of furniture, the only difference being some sign of a pulse, a utility barely useful to them.
Depleted Uranium, spewed out world-wide by American based interests, is only the most boggling of these destructive tendencies. The only mercy left us is to fall victim to a health crisis before The Big One gets us first.
It is time for Americans to read that writing on the Wall surrounding us, and demand better.
"These Voting Machines May Be Hazardous to Our Health."
~~ John Ervin
Native Intelligence Agency Director
by
muservin (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 50 comments)
on Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 6:28:01 PM
This is terrific. It's like that 20 things you need to know about lousy elections (can't remember the actual title) but it's better because it shows that, just with the machines, there's no hope. The clear imiplication of planned catastrphes is there and everybody reading it will know it's The Money Party in action.
Just terrific. Get this puppy around. I will.
Most excellent Rady!
by
Michael Collins (105 articles, 16 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 355 comments)
on Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 12:39:26 AM
When electronic voting machines were approved, those of us in the tech sector were horrified. Anyone that has worked in IT understands that computers are not secure, and it's an impossibility to make them so! Everyone I knew were dreading the upcoming elections, knowing that electronic voting machines are designed to steal elections, not produce results that are transparent or even accountable.
We need to go back to paper ballots, as electronic voting machines will never be secure, and the GOP will always use any form of deceit and corruption they can muster to further their fascist agenda. When I read that Georgia's elections were tainted by Diebold's "patch" it made me sick and this type of voter manipulation is going on throughout the entire United States.
Without fair and transparent elections, democracy and accountability of government are essentially dead. We know that Diebold has changed election results; now it's time to jail those who are complicit with the fascists who are attempting to overturn our democratic republic and charge them with treason, as in my opinion, stealing elections is the highest form of treason I can think of, and we need to pay homage to and follow our own laws.
by
William Cormier (130 articles, 7 quicklinks, 17 diaries, 318 comments)
on Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 10:01:59 AM
In response to Mikel's invitation, I invented a "flavor" called Hackberry Vote:
Introduced in the early 1960s, this murky flavor spread like a slow virus until 2002, when it was officially declared that all ice creams must use hackberries. The 49 states that have adopted it haven't enjoyed a clean taste ever since. New York is the last holdout, but word has it they're going to choke it down in 2009.
by
Rady Ananda (124 articles, 283 quicklinks, 36 diaries, 1061 comments)
on Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 10:13:15 AM
Actually, I haven't revealed the full scope of my background in IT. In Atlanta, I worked for DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) in the Alpharetta, Ga. location before we were bought-out by Compaq. I was in the process of being promoted to team leader (Which I was already doing) in our support group (US Post Office and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. I have to wonder if they now serve "Hackberry...")
I also was the lead technician and Sales Manager of one of Atlanta's largest service companies who dominated the high-end of computer IT services in repair, disaster recovery, and sales. I owned a couple of my own companies and managed several others. I am but one among millions that share a great deal of knowledge in regard technology and security - and none of us had to question that it was a bad decision, as anyone in that industry knew it was a disaster in the making.
In the scheme of the IT industry, I suppose I'm merely a novice compared to some, and that's what bothers me. Collectively, the IT community knew this was going to happen, it was inevitable, yet people who know vastly more than I do allowed it to happen even though their experience and training had to tell them it was a scam and was destined to fail. Those who were professionals in the IT field that worked for the government had to know this was going to happen, and they hold much of the blame for not becoming "whistle blowers" and testifying before Congress that this was not a viable plan no matter who the vendor was or how it was implemented.
Utter betrayal by those who knew better.
by
William Cormier (130 articles, 7 quicklinks, 17 diaries, 318 comments)
on Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 1:05:53 PM
Does any other country in the world have computer voting?
It's such an obvious crock.
The other thing American's should look at is proportional voting. If the candidate you vote for is unsuccessful, your second preference carries the same value as any vote.
There is no way to find out the real support for Green, Libertarian and Independent candidates because people are worried about wasting their vote. They then choose the lesser of the two evils supported by mainstream parties and media.
My guess is that many people who support Cynthia McKinney will vote for Barak Obama because they fear the carnage that would accompany a John McCain victory.
Imagine being able to vote for every other candidate and being able to effectively register your "lesser of two evils" preference with the order of your last two choices. It works in Australia.
by
John Haigh (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 107 comments)
on Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 1:01:39 PM
It's how they do it in the NBA, right? Pick your top three choices and make sure whoever is elected is elected by a majority, instead of just by the largest number of votes.
The move to computerize elections is global. Several countries drank the Kool-Aid.
When Americans refuse to vote on these easily hacked machines, that count the vote in secret, then we'll start making progress toward election integrity.
Computerized election systems have rendered "voting a useless formality."
by
Rady Ananda (124 articles, 283 quicklinks, 36 diaries, 1061 comments)
on Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 1:29:50 PM
I'll be suggestive here. 70% don't vote. 30% do. The 30%er's are not accurately counted. The 70%er's are. Sounds like the 70% are making a choice too. That no one should win. And that's what's happening. We all lose this one.
That's why Rady, I will send what you have laid out here thru to those who need to know this stuff.
peace
by
mikel paul (11 articles, 1 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 442 comments)
on Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 3:05:05 PM
Rady...Left you a reply on my Earthly post......thanx
Yep....what made yours so cool was that hackberry sounds like something out of an old American novel......and that it tied into what all you do do so well.
peace
by
mikel paul (11 articles, 1 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 442 comments)
on Monday, July 21, 2008 at 11:43:23 AM
If your first choice doesn't get 50% plus your second choice is counted as your vote. If your second choice doesn't get 50%+ your third choice is counted as your vote. And so on until a candidate gets more than 50%.
You have to number every square on the ballot paper.
In Australia we also have compulsory voting. That's more contentious, but I'm in favour of it.
by
John Haigh (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 107 comments)
on Monday, July 21, 2008 at 12:44:49 AM
