HACKERS ABLE TO TAMPER WITH ALL ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES TESTED

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JOHN WILDERMUTH, SF CHRONICLE - State-sanctioned teams of computer
hackers were able to break through the security of virtually every model
of California's voting machines and change results or take control of
some of the systems' electronic functions, according to a University of
California study.

The researchers "were able to bypass physical and software security in
every machine they tested," said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who
authorized the "top to bottom review" of every voting system certified
by the state.

Neither Bowen nor the investigators were willing to say exactly how
vulnerable California elections are to computer hackers, especially
because the team of computer experts from the UC system had
top-of-the-line security information plus more time and better access to
the voting machines than would-be vote thieves likely would have. . .

The review included voting equipment from every company approved for use
in the state, including Sequoia, whose systems are used in Alameda, Napa
and Santa Clara counties; Hart InterCivic, used in San Mateo and Sonoma
Counties; and Diebold, used in Marin County. . .

Bowen said in a telephone news conference Friday that the report is only
one piece of information she will use to decide which voting systems are
secure enough to use in next February's presidential primary election.
If she is going to decertify any of the machines, she must do it by
Friday, six months before the Feb. 5 vote.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/
2007/07/28/VOTING.TMP&feed=rss.news


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