Hacker demonstrates how voting machines can be compromised
[Concerns are growing over the possibility of a rigged presidential election. Experts believe a cyberattack this year could be a reality, especially following last month's hack of Democratic National Committee emails.
The ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee sent a letter Monday to the Department of Homeland Security, saying in part: "Election security is critical, and a cyberattack by foreign actors on our elections systems could compromise the integrity of our voting process."
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But for the hackers at Symantec Security Response, Election Day results could be manipulated by an affordable device you can find online.
"I can insert it, and then it resets the card, and now I'm able to vote again," said Brian Varner, a principle researcher at Symantec, demonstrating the device.
The voter doesn't even need to leave the booth to hack the machine.
"For $15 and in-depth knowledge of the card, you could hack the vote," Varner said.
Symantec Security Response director Kevin Haley said elections can also be hacked by breaking into the machines after the votes are collected.
"The results go from that machine into a piece of electronics that takes it to the central counting place," Haley said. "That data is not encrypted and that's vulnerable for manipulation."
"How big of a hacking potential problem is this?" Villarreal asked him.
"Well, there's a huge potential," Haley responded. "There are so many places in the voting process once it goes electronic that's vulnerable."
[Concerns are growing over the possibility of a rigged presidential election. Experts believe a cyberattack this year could be a reality, especially following last month's hack of Democratic National Committee emails. The ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee sent a letter Monday to the Department of Homeland Security, saying in part: "Election security is critical, and a cyberattack by foreign actors on our elections systems could compromise the integrity of our voting process."
***
But for the hackers at Symantec Security Response, Election Day results could be manipulated by an affordable device you can find online.
"I can insert it, and then it resets the card, and now I'm able to vote again," said Brian Varner, a principle researcher at Symantec, demonstrating the device.
The voter doesn't even need to leave the booth to hack the machine.
"For $15 and in-depth knowledge of the card, you could hack the vote," Varner said.
Symantec Security Response director Kevin Haley said elections can also be hacked by breaking into the machines after the votes are collected.
"The results go from that machine into a piece of electronics that takes it to the central counting place," Haley said. "That data is not encrypted and that's vulnerable for manipulation."
"How big of a hacking potential problem is this?" Villarreal asked him.
"Well, there's a huge potential," Haley responded. "There are so many places in the voting process once it goes electronic that's vulnerable."
