Category Archives: voting machines

What would a vulnerability disclosure program look like for voting equipment? Expect an RFI soon

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Voting-equipment vendors are preparing to formally ask security researchers for ideas on building a coordinated vulnerability disclosure (CVD) program, the next step in the industry’s gradual move to work more closely with ethical hackers. The Elections Industry-Special Interest Group, which includes the country’s three largest voting-systems vendors, will this week release the request for information (RFI), Chris Wlaschin, vice president of systems security at one of those vendors, Election Systems & Software, told CyberScoop. “We all feel that sense of urgency to adopt this sooner than later,” Wlaschin said. Since January, the voting vendor group, which is part of the IT-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IT-ISAC), a broader industry association, has held biweekly meetings to begin hashing out what a CVD program to find and fix software bugs might look like. Other industries have adopted such programs, which can raise the bar for security in an industry and establish trust […]

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Video captures glitching Mississippi voting machines flipping votes

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A video that shows an electronic machine switching voters’ selections has gone viral, underscoring the need for paper audit trails. Continue reading Video captures glitching Mississippi voting machines flipping votes→

Voting-machine companies are thinking about vulnerability disclosure, bug bounty programs

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Voting-equipment vendors expressed interest Thursday in establishing a program for the coordinated disclosure of hardware and software vulnerabilities in their equipment — a practice common in other industries and long championed by security experts. An industry group offered support for a voluntary coordinated vulnerability disclosure (CVD) process that collaborates with ethical hackers to fix equipment flaws faster. The move comes as some security researchers and policymakers have criticized the industry’s big vendors for being slow to embrace ethical hacking. The commitment to work with “good-faith researchers marks a significant turn in industry-wide thinking,” says a white paper issued by the Elections Industry-Special Interest Group (EI-SIG), part of the IT-Information Sharing and Analysis Center. The group includes the country’s three largest vendors — Dominion Voting Systems, Election Systems & Software (ES&S), and Hart InterCivic. Perhaps the biggest challenge to establishing a CVD program will be aligning it with a federal testing and certification system — […]

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US Voting Machines Internet-Connected, Despite Denials

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Researchers were horrified to discover 35 ES&S voting machines connected to the internet. As you might have guessed, this is not at all good security practice—and it directly contradicts statements by various election officials and the manufacture… Continue reading US Voting Machines Internet-Connected, Despite Denials→

After Mueller, Senate Intel Reports on Russian Election Hacks

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Now we have the Senate Intel Committee’s report on how Russia sought to influence the 2016 elections, how it might do it again in 2020, and how we can stop it.
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Elizabeth Warren wants to overhaul U.S. election security

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., released a plan focused on election security Tuesday that would replace every voting machine in the U.S. with “state-of-the-art” technology and require states to follow federal standards for federal elections. Warren, who is running for president, would replace outdated voting systems with voter-verified paper ballot machines, mandate voting equipment be paid for by the federal government, and require risk-limiting audits before elections take place. The proposal also makes the federal government responsible for election cybersecurity. “Our democracy is too important for it to be under-resourced and insecure,” Warren wrote in a post on Medium. “We have a solemn obligation to secure our elections from those who would try to undermine them.” Beyond requiring risk-limiting audits, Warren’s plan would add a condition for states seeking federal funding for elections administration. Among the conditions would be an examination of how states are making voting more convenient. “The federal […]

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Election commission names new lead for testing and certifying voting systems

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The federal Election Assistance Commission has appointed Jerome Lovato, a former Colorado state election official, as head of the commission’s program for testing and certifying voting systems, according to a commission email obtained by CyberScoop. Lovato replaces Ryan Macias, who was filling the role in an acting capacity and will step down this month. The crucial EAC program works with the country’s top voting equipment vendors to certify and decertify voting system hardware and software. Lovato’s appointment, which was first reported by Politico, comes as the commission prepares to help secure the 2020 election, a vote that U.S. officials have warned will be targeted by foreign adversaries. Senators are expected to raise those issues next week at an EAC oversight hearing next week. Some lawmakers have pushed for an increase in EAC funding to hire more tech and cybersecurity experts. Whether or not that money comes, the commission intends on hiring more technical personnel, […]

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Voting-machine vendors have some serious questions to answer, senators say

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While the security of the 2020 election remains a prominent topic in Washington, a group of Democratic senators is raising alarms about longer-term issues that will resonate after voters are done choosing a president about 20 months from now. The three companies that make most of the voting technology used in the U.S. must be more transparent about their plans to improve their products to meet current expectations about security and performance, says a letter Wednesday by Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and three other top Democrats. In particular, the senators say every machine should reliably produce paper records, and the companies should do far more to upgrade their products. “The integrity of our elections is directly tied to the machines we vote on — the products that you make,” says the letter from Klobuchar, Mark Warner of Virginia, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Gary Peters of Michigan. “Despite shouldering such a massive responsibility, there has been […]

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Midterm Election Security, Gait Recognition Surveillance Technology, Caller ID Authentication – WB42

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This is your Shared Security Weekly Blaze for November 12, 2018 with your host, Tom Eston. In this week’s episode: Midterm Election Security, Gait Recognition Surveillance Technology and Caller ID Authentication Silent Pocket is a proud sponsor o… Continue reading Midterm Election Security, Gait Recognition Surveillance Technology, Caller ID Authentication – WB42→