Politico is a Threat to our Mocracy!

[Oddball]

Politico is spreading dangerous conspiracy theories!.....They say voting machines, which totally aren't connected to the internet *snert*, are vulnerable to hackers and can't be trusted!

RELEASE THE FUCKING KRAKEN!

There’s a largely overlooked hacking target that could help those who want to sow doubt about vote tallies in the November midterms: cellular modems that transmit unofficial election-night results.


The modems, which send vote data from precincts to central offices using cellphone networks, help election officials satisfy the public’s demand for rapid results. But putting any networking connection on an election system opens up new ways to attack it that don’t require physical access to machines, and security experts say the risks aren’t worth the rewards.

<snip>

“In the current hyperpolarized atmosphere, modems in voting machines are now not only a potential target for cyberattacks, but, perhaps more importantly, information operations seeking to cast doubt on the legitimacy of U.S. elections,” said David Levine, a former election director for Ada County, Idaho. He’s now a fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy working on elections integrity issues.

The voting machine hacking threat you probably haven’t heard about

Modems help election officials report results quickly, but security experts say they’re too dangerous to trust.

www.politico.com

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Deplatform Politico for Disinformation!

 

[Esdraelon]

I see someone getting ready to claim the election is illegitimate.

 

[Jim H - VA USA]

I will simply point out that this vulnerability has been known for a long time and ignored.

As reported in January 2020 by NBC, many of Dominion's machines, tabulators even, have modems which can connect to the internet via cell phone towers...

Experts find more than 30 U.S. voting systems connected to internet

A team of election security experts used a “Google for servers” to challenge claims that voting machines do not connect to the internet and found some did.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[flacaltenn]

I see someone getting ready to claim the election is illegitimate.

ONE DAY before the election wipe-out and the demise of the Dem party as it has become -- Politico SUDDENLY realizes that voting machines are BADLY DESIGNED.

As a designer of DOZENS complex stand-alone machines for medical or other applications -- I can tell you ONE THING. Under NO CONDITIONS should any "day of voting" machine be on the floor of a polling place that USES standard Microsoft OS and HAS to run shields on ports and be protected by Anti-Virus and Malware Software. Even if that's NOT a devious decision -- it's DESIGN MALPRACTICE and LAZINESS at best.

A voting machine is LESS COMPLEX than an elevator. Just has a better "user interface". It logs data and does SIMPLE math tallies. You can accomplish this with a $5 microprocessor and NO operating system. Just need to write protected "firmware" on a cross-compiler to do the actions. Only thing the "tally machine" on the floor has to do is scan a paper strip printed out by the voter booth kiosk. I've build entire kiosks with printers and display AND NO ports to protect with the same "no OSystem -- KISSimple" philosophy.

ONLY "ported" machine on the floor should be the tally machine. NO WI-FI -- NO wireless. Just use an RS-232 port that goes active ONLY AFTER the Tally machine is DONE for the day and keep it uncabled until EVERY person in the room is credentialed and monitored at the vote processing center.

BTW -- vote processing centers should be SHIELDED like secure classified SCIFFs. NO electronics enters on day of processing other than the tally machines. Count update reports to the media should be done out of the Sec State office by email or text.

 

[Oddball]

ONE DAY before the election wipe-out and the demise of the Dem party as it has become -- Politico SUDDENLY realizes that voting machines are BADLY DESIGNED.

As a designer of DOZENS complex stand-alone machines for medical or other applications -- I can tell you ONE THING. Under NO CONDITIONS should any "day of voting" machine be on the floor of a polling place that USES standard Microsoft OS and HAS to run shields on ports and be protected by Anti-Virus and Malware Software. Even if that's NOT a devious decision -- it's DESIGN MALPRACTICE and LAZINESS at best.

A voting machine is LESS COMPLEX than an elevator. Just has a better "user interface". It logs data and does SIMPLE math tallies. You can accomplish this with a $5 microprocessor and NO operating system. Just need to write protected "firmware" on a cross-compiler to do the actions. Only thing the "tally machine" on the floor has to do is scan a paper strip printed out by the voter booth kiosk. I've build entire kiosks with printers and display AND NO ports to protect with the same "no OSystem -- KISSimple" philosophy.

ONLY "ported" machine on the floor should be the tally machine. NO WI-FI -- NO wireless. Just use an RS-232 port that goes active ONLY AFTER the Tally machine is DONE for the day and keep it uncabled until EVERY person in the room is credentialed and monitored at the vote processing center.

BTW -- vote processing centers should be SHIELDED like secure classified SCIFFs. NO electronics enters on day of processing other than the tally machines. Count update reports to the media should be done out of the Sec State office by email or text.

This post needs to be moved to CT, unless you want to damage Forum Foundry's ESG score and upset advertisers.

 

[flacaltenn]

This post needs to be moved to CT, unless you want to damage Forum Foundry's ESG score and upset advertisers.

Nope. Shields are UP Captain. We're in stealth mode tonight.

 

[Oddball]

I mean c'mon.....How can anyone argue with Politico?

Aren't they supposed to be one of the flagship publications of credible online political news?

Where's all the nail biting, hand wringing, and pearl clutching from the left, over the possibility that the clear vulnerabilities of the voting machines could be the means that ends up costing them this oh-so-important election?

Don't y'all want "free and fair" elections?

Don' y'all want to make sure that RUSSIA! can't interfere in the election through the interwebz?

C'mon, guys....RELEASE THE FUCKING KRAKEN!

or not

 

[scruffy]

Politico is spreading dangerous conspiracy theories!.....They say voting machines, which totally aren't connected to the internet *snert*, are vulnerable to hackers and can't be trusted!

RELEASE THE FUCKING KRAKEN!

There’s a largely overlooked hacking target that could help those who want to sow doubt about vote tallies in the November midterms: cellular modems that transmit unofficial election-night results.


The modems, which send vote data from precincts to central offices using cellphone networks, help election officials satisfy the public’s demand for rapid results. But putting any networking connection on an election system opens up new ways to attack it that don’t require physical access to machines, and security experts say the risks aren’t worth the rewards.

<snip>

“In the current hyperpolarized atmosphere, modems in voting machines are now not only a potential target for cyberattacks, but, perhaps more importantly, information operations seeking to cast doubt on the legitimacy of U.S. elections,” said David Levine, a former election director for Ada County, Idaho. He’s now a fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy working on elections integrity issues.

The voting machine hacking threat you probably haven’t heard about

Modems help election officials report results quickly, but security experts say they’re too dangerous to trust.

www.politico.com

This problem can be resolved instantaneously and inexpensively.

But you'd need a security expert to tell you about it.

Not a politician.

Politicians a) lie, and b) are generally ignorant and dumb as a stump.