Dark Reading is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them.Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Database Security
Authentication
Mobile
Privacy
Compliance
Careers and People
Identity & Access Management
Security Monitoring
Advanced Threats
Insider Threats
Vulnerability Management
Comments
Hacking The Polls: Where US Voting Processes Fall Short
Newest First  |  Oldest First  |  Threaded View
Joe Stanganelli
50%
50%
Joe Stanganelli,
 User Rank: Ninja
9/29/2016 | 7:50:36 AM
Re: Pah.
@Jeff: Yes, don't get me wrong.  I do think the "IT" of it has a lot of problems, but you are totally right that the process is just as much (if not more) to blame.  For instance, bureaucratic government approaches for vetting updates to proprietary voting systems keep said voting systems vulnerable for longer.

As for Internet voting, studies have demonstrated that it doesn't encourage non-voters to vote; it simply adds a layer of convenience for people who have already decided to vote.

All of this said (and more), there's a serious ROI issue with e-voting in any form because of the security perils.

( I roundly criticized e-voting security a couple of years ago here: enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/netsecur/hack-early-hack-often-the-perils-of-electronic-voting.html )

Jeff.schilling
50%
50%
Jeff.schilling,
 User Rank: Author
9/29/2016 | 3:07:20 AM
Re: Pah.
Joe,  Thank you for your comments.  I think no matter what process we adopt in each of the states, we need to focus on securing that process.  Many folks want to blame the IT systems for being unsecure.  However, in most cases, it is the process itself that is not secure.  Our payment card industry is a perfect example to illustrate that point.  We never really changed the process of how we manage credit payments at the point of sale, we just put it in "electrons."  We are starting to see many innovations in that space now to keep you from having to show your credit card at the point of sale.  I think the voting process needs the same innovative look.
Jeff.schilling
50%
50%
Jeff.schilling,
 User Rank: Author
9/29/2016 | 3:00:47 AM
Re: Why is This Suddenly an Issue?
Agree this is not a new risk, but there has not been any real effort to address this wicked problem.  That is what I was calling out in the article.  I know there is not a lot of trust in a federal program for electronic voting and that is not what I am proposing.  I am proposing that some of the "have not" states who can't seem to put the investment needed to get their voting processess secure, pool their resources in "state to state" agreeements.  
geriatric
50%
50%
geriatric,
 User Rank: Moderator
9/28/2016 | 1:27:37 PM
Why is This Suddenly an Issue?
There have been grave concerns with electronic voting ever since this turkey was foisted on the public. The lack of an audit trail, the ability to 'flip' votes, and machines delivered with votes already cast have littered the headlines for decades. But NOW it's a problem? I'll leave the answer to this question to rational, reasonable beings. Seems rather obvious to me.

We need to figure out how to authenticate a paper vote first.

And from a security perspective, a decentralized system is more secure than a Federally-controlled national system. Right now, there are vulnerabilities, but no way to hack the entire system to produce a desired outcome. If all the eggs are in one basket, it will be much simpler.
Joe Stanganelli
50%
50%
Joe Stanganelli,
 User Rank: Ninja
9/28/2016 | 11:40:48 AM
Pah.
The NIST standards are a helpful tool -- but they are FAR from a helpful salve (particularly considering how the NIST Cybersecurity Framework is a bit M&M-security-focused...with much less focus on what to do during and after an initial breach and much more focus on initial prevention).

Frankly, we need to perfect the sanctity and security of old-fashioned in-person voting before we move forward with more e-voting measures.


COVID-19: Latest Security News & Commentary
Dark Reading Staff 10/30/2020
'Act of War' Clause Could Nix Cyber Insurance Payouts
Robert Lemos, Contributing Writer,  10/29/2020
6 Ways Passwords Fail Basic Security Tests
Curtis Franklin Jr., Senior Editor at Dark Reading,  10/28/2020
Register for Dark Reading Newsletters
White Papers
Video
Cartoon
Current Issue
How to Measure and Reduce Cybersecurity Risk in Your Organization
In this Tech Digest, we examine the difficult practice of measuring cyber-risk that has long been an elusive target for enterprises. Download it today!
Flash Poll
How IT Security Organizations are Attacking the Cybersecurity Problem
How IT Security Organizations are Attacking the Cybersecurity Problem
The COVID-19 pandemic turned the world -- and enterprise computing -- on end. Here's a look at how cybersecurity teams are retrenching their defense strategies, rebuilding their teams, and selecting new technologies to stop the oncoming rise of online attacks.
Twitter Feed
Dark Reading - Bug Report
Bug Report
Enterprise Vulnerabilities
From DHS/US-CERT's National Vulnerability Database
CVE-2020-15703
PUBLISHED: 2020-10-31
There is no input validation on the Locale property in an apt transaction. An unprivileged user can supply a full path to a writable directory, which lets aptd read a file as root. Having a symlink in place results in an error message if the file exists, and no error otherwise. This way an unprivile...
CVE-2020-5991
PUBLISHED: 2020-10-30
NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit, all versions prior to 11.1.1, contains a vulnerability in the NVJPEG library in which an out-of-bounds read or write operation may lead to code execution, denial of service, or information disclosure.
CVE-2020-15273
PUBLISHED: 2020-10-30
baserCMS before version 4.4.1 is vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting. The issue affects the following components: Edit feed settings, Edit widget area, Sub site new registration, New category registration. Arbitrary JavaScript may be executed by entering specific characters in the account that can ac...
CVE-2020-15276
PUBLISHED: 2020-10-30
baserCMS before version 4.4.1 is vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting. Arbitrary JavaScript may be executed by entering a crafted nickname in blog comments. The issue affects the blog comment component. It is fixed in version 4.4.1.
CVE-2020-15277
PUBLISHED: 2020-10-30
baserCMS before version 4.4.1 is affected by Remote Code Execution (RCE). Code may be executed by logging in as a system administrator and uploading an executable script file such as a PHP file. The Edit template component is vulnerable. The issue is fixed in version 4.4.1.