Communications of the ACM
Why a Data Security Expert Fears U.S. Voting Will Be Hacked
Finnish data-security expert Harri Hursti has spent the past 15 years trying to draw attention to the weaknesses in Americas voting systems.
Credit: HBO
Finnish data security expert Harri Hursti worries the U.S. voting system is rife with unpatched vulnerabilities that leave it susceptible to election rigging.
One uncorrected flaw Hursti discovered in 2005 is that removable memory cards for machines used in Florida's elections could be programmed to change votes.
In the ensuing years, Hursti found weaknesses in other voting machines in different states, but election officials and voting-machine manufacturers have apparently not followed his urgings to fix those flaws.
Hursti also warns in the HBO documentary "Kill Chain: The Cyber War on America's Elections" that many voting systems have modems or other types of network connectivity that transmit data which hackers could intercept.
Election companies claim the machines cannot be accessed externally if proper security measures are followed, but Hursti says he found more than 1,000 such machines for sale on eBay, which hackers could purchase.
From The Wall Street Journal
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