Voting machines hit by malware lead to allegations of voter fraud

Voting machines in a New York town have been hit by a virus, casting doubt on the accuracy of counts retrieved from any of the machines.

According to the Gouverneur Times, Cathleen Rogers, the democratic elections commissioner in Hamilton County, claimed that a problem had been found with their voting machines in the week prior to the recent New York election, and that the ‘virus' had been fixed by a technical support representative from Dominion, the manufacturer.

The Dominion/Sequoia voting systems representative ‘reprogrammed' the machines in time for them to use in the November 3 special election. The Times said that the machines are "languishing at the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections until after the election results have been certified to the state on November 28".

It also claimed that despite continued assurances from the manufacturer that the system is unhackable, reliable, easy to use, private and secure; a stream of lawsuits, allegations of voter fraud and machine failures against Sequoia from other congressional districts continue to contradict their statements.

In Symantec's 2010 security predictions, it claimed that highly specialised malware was uncovered in 2009 that was aimed at exploiting certain ATMs, indicating a degree of insider knowledge about their operation and how they could be exploited.

It warned that the trend could continue in 2010, including the possibility of malware targeting electronic voting systems, both those used in political elections and public telephone voting, such as that connected with reality television shows and competitions.

See original article on scmagazineuk.com