NYT Exposes Diebold Voting Machine Security Flaw

[BeFree]

New Fears of Security Risks in Electronic Voting Systems

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/us/12vote.html?ex=114 ...

..."It's the most severe security flaw ever discovered in a voting system," said Michael I. Shamos, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University who is an examiner of electronic voting systems for Pennsylvania, where the primary is to take place on Tuesday.

Officials from Diebold and from elections' offices in numerous states minimized the significance of the risk and emphasized that there were no signs that any touch-screen machines had been tampered with. But computer scientists said the problem might allow someone to tamper with a machine's software, some saying they preferred not to discuss the flaw at all for fear of offering a roadmap to a hacker.

"This is the barn door being wide open, while people were arguing over the lock on the front door," said Douglas W. Jones, a professor of computer science at the University of Iowa, a state where the primary is June 6.

[renate]

1. recommended!!

:applause:

[William769]

2. How can that be?

Everytime I use the New York Times I get called a shrill!

[Mandate My Ass]

10. No, they're calling you a shill...

or maybe a we're both right and they're calling you a shrill shill. ;-)

[mconvente]

3. Finally, some real cred to this issue

We've known it all, but unless bigwigs like the NYT reports these things, a lot of people won't know - it's sad but true. I'll take any major "expose" on diebold as good.

[babylonsister]

5. Newsweek took the lead on this-it's getting out there!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1248452

[Peace Patriot]

6. It's okay to rejoice that more eyes will see some facts on this matter,

but the phrase "real cred" pits the war profiteering, lying, deceitful, Bush-colluding NYT against all the grass roots activists, independent experts and analysts, true heart bloggers, progressive rank and file Democrats, and courageous public officials, who have been on this issue from day one, as "less cred," or "no cred."

Your wording is unfortunate. Ever since Iraq War II, I have regarded the NYT with great skepticism on all matters, even when they seem to be on the side of truth and justice. What are their motives in publishing this NOW, after the horse is out of the barn, so to speak? They did the same thing with NSA spying--held it up for a year, past the election. I don't trust them. And, if nothing else, they may have published this now to con people like yourself into using phrases like "real cred" to describe their ve-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-y late-in-the-day reporting on a topic of premier national importance: our non-transparent, hackable, electronic voting systems, put into place during the 2002-2004 period, by means of legislation engineered by the biggest crooks in Bush's Congress, Tom Delay and Bob Ney (abetted by Christopher Dodd). Non-transparent, hackable, electronic voting systems controlled by Bushite corporations, using "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY vote tabulation programming code--code so secret that not even our secretaries of state are permitted to review it--with virtually no audit/recount controls.

It's not just the glitches and backdoor security holes in these voting machines. It's the whole design for non-transparency and unverifiability, and the use of a $4 billion Congressional boondoggle to achieve those goals: in essence, a ruined, corrupted election system that nobody can trust.

WHERE was the NYT when this was done? How could they have permitted a national election to proceed under these conditions, without screaming headlines and editorials exposing it?

I rejoice, I do--for what help this article may give to the REAL activists with REAL CREDS on this issue, including the ones cited in the article, and to the people in this country, in figuring out where their country went, and getting mobilized to get it back, and to restore democracy.

But do be wary of NYT timing and content, and of allowing THEM to create your sense of reality--your sense of what is real, and of what "real cred" is.

[goclark]

4. Yet they will continue to let the voting go forward all over BushLand?!

[joeunderdog]

7. is the tide turning? Maybe they've had enought of BushCo.

MSM is the only reason Diebold is allowed to operate with the inadequacy of security and outright inaccuracy it represents.

[faithnotgreed]

8. i would still like to know why this is all coming out now

and in more than one mainstream source


regardless it is quite amazing that its being acknowledged at all
let alone exposed

[BeFree]

9. Why?

Just recently several Diebold machines were accessed by a renowned computer security expert. Previously, the machines had been untouchable. Recently two different heroic election officials, one in Florida, and the other in Utah, allowed the expert to 'play' with the machines in their possesion.

Anyway, the machines were found to have these very serious problems, problems that would allow virtually anyone with hacker knowledge to easily alter the machines in three different ways.

When problems with Diebold machines were exposed before now, Diebold blew them off. This time Diebold acknowledged the problems, allowing the press to feel that the story had legs.

-------------------

BTW- Both officials ended up in hot water, one narrowly escaping with his job, the other fired. Ion Sancho and Bruce Funk - American heroes!

[faithnotgreed]

11. i understand the basic history

but didnt know diebold just gave them the opening that is being revealed

thank you

[Cheap_Trick]

12. You know why this is being allowed to be reported now?

So that when the Dems win in November, the tightie righties can scream CHEATERS! This should have been reported in the MSM a LOOOOOOONG time ago, exposing * to the world as the cheating scumbag we all know he is.

[hopeisaplace]

13. omg, you read my mind....that's what I was thinking too

gheesh I hope we're wrong about that

[BeFree]

14. Interesting take

And can hardly be disputed, being that they will do anything to win.

But given that the machines are owned by the righties, allegations of cheating aimed at us will never stick. Actually, I wish they would go ahead and claim we are cheating, that would open up the discussion that for too long has been only one sided and held back by the press.

Notice that even this NYT article is only the tip of the iceberg.

[joeunderdog]

17. If they cry cheating, then the whole e-voting is in question.

What will they do, a do-over with write-ins? They'd still lose and then we'd have cause to require safeguards for voting machines. They wouldn't want that because they will need to cheat when the landslide is not in play like it is now.

[OnionPatch]

16. I was a little more optimistic

I was thinking that the corporate powers-that-be are finally fed up with the Chimpster, his yes-men and their policies. They are failing America and even they must surely see it. I read an article not long ago that says the invester class has abandoned Bush and his ilk. Exposing the election corruption is the first step in getting them out and they know it.

Anyone who delves into the voting machine problems can certainly see that the problems boils down to a Republican advantage, not Democratic. I don't see how they could claim that we are the ones tampering when they have won all the elections in the last five years or so. :shrug:

[in_cog_ni_to]

15. Kick! and RECOMMENDED!!! It's about damn time!

Just in time to save the '06 and '08 elections???