Are US Voting Machines Secure From Hackers?

Some key swing states have declined an offer from the Homeland Security Department to scan voting systems for hackers ahead of the presidential elections.

As suspected Russian-sponsored attackers compromise Democratic Party and other US political data allegedly to sway voter opinion, some security experts say it wouldn’t even take the resources of a foreign nation to manipulate actual votes using this country’s antiquated tallying systems.

Against this backdrop, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson during an Aug. 15 call with state election officials, offered states DHS services that can inspect voting systems for bugs and other hacker entryways. Earlier in the month, he also suggested the federal government label election systems as official US critical infrastructure, like the power grid.

But some battleground states, including Georgia and Pennsylvania, say they will rely on in-house security crews to maintain the integrity of voter data.

“The question remains whether the federal government will subvert the Constitution to achieve the goal of federalizing elections under the guise of security,” Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp told Nextgov in an email. “Designating voting systems or any other election system as critical infrastructure would be a vast federal overreach, the cost of which would not equally improve the security of elections in the United States.”

Georgia, where some projections show presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump neck and neck, reportedly could use a vote machine reboot.

“Georgia, which is running electronic-only machines—there’s no paper trail. … And the machines they’re using are more than a decade old, so the hardware is falling apart. And the operating system they’re using is Windows 2000, which hasn’t been updated for security for years, which means it’s a sitting duck,” Zeynep Tufekci, a University of North Carolina information and library science professor, told NPR on recently.  

There is no evidence ballot manipulation has ever occurred in the United States, and, per Johnson, DHS is not aware of any credible cyber-threats related to 2016 general election systems.

All the same, vote machine hacks are all the rage among researchers at Las Vegas hacker confabs.  

Even top White House tech privacy adviser Ed Felten helped demonstrate the weaknesses of digital voting booths in his previous life as a Princeton University academic. In a 2009 paper Felten co-authored, researchers commanded an AVC Advantage voting machine, the kind still deployed in Pennsylvania and other states, to steal votes. No Internet required. They altered a pretend election by inserting a malicious memory cartridge the size of a paperback book that would typically be used for recording votes. The tainted device combined snippets of authorized code inside the system to cause the unauthorized behavior.   

“An attacker who has access to the machine the night before an election can use our techniques to affect the outcome of an election by replacing the election program with another whose visible behavior is nearly indistinguishable from the legitimate program but that adds, removes or changes votes as the attacker wishes,” Felten and colleagues from Princeton, University of California at San Diego and the University of Michigan wrote in “Proceedings of the 2009 Electronic Voting Technology Workshop.”

No Recounts

Because of hacking concerns, many states are keeping a paper trail to audit the vote count, but not all. In addition to Georgia, parts of Pennsylvania, another tossup state, do not maintain paper backups in the event of a hack, Tufekci said.

Pennsylvania officials say cybersecurity experts from the commonwealth’s IT shop work closely with the state elections team to secure voting-related infrastructure. “Pennsylvania has implemented policies, technologies, best practices and procedures around the safeguarding of data and the protection of our applications, systems and resources,” Pennsylvania Department of State spokeswoman Wanda Murren said. “We constantly monitor our data and systems for vulnerabilities and attempted attacks in order to keep pace with the rapidly evolving threat landscape.”
She declined to go into specifics as a matter of policy.

A Homeland Security spokesman told Nextgov on background “several states” currently use DHS hygiene scans and assessment services for voting systems. He would not disclose the names of any jurisdictions.

Florida, where Trump has been down nine points, declined to say whether it will ask DHS to scan local voting machines but did participate in the national teleconference with Johnson.

The Florida secretary of State Department “is engaged with DHS, in addition to all of our other state and federal stakeholders, on an ongoing basis to help ensure the security and integrity of Florida elections,” department spokeswoman Meredith M. Beatrice said.

Ohio, where Clinton has a narrow advantage over Trump, appears to be taking advantage of some DHS support for election cybersecurity.

“The Ohio Department of Homeland Security is working with their federal counterparts, so we are working through them to perform the needed scans,” Ohio secretary of state spokesman Joshua Eck told Nextgov in an email.

Richard Clarke, a former National Security Council adviser under presidents Bill Clinton and both of the George Bushes, cautions it could be hard to detect a slight manipulation of voter data in some swing precincts.

“Smart malware can be programmed to switch only a small percentage of votes from what the voters intended. That may be all that is needed,” Clarke, now an ABC News consultant, commented recently.

DefenseOne

« Islamic State Members Embedded In Government
UAE Using Israeli Spy Technology »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

IT Governance

IT Governance

IT Governance is a leading global provider of information security solutions. Download our free guide and find out how ISO 27001 can help protect your organisation's information.

Alvacomm

Alvacomm

Alvacomm offers holistic VIP cybersecurity services, providing comprehensive protection against cyber threats. Our solutions include risk assessment, threat detection, incident response.

NordLayer

NordLayer

NordLayer is an adaptive network access security solution for modern businesses — from the world’s most trusted cybersecurity brand, Nord Security. 

BackupVault

BackupVault

BackupVault is a leading provider of automatic cloud backup and critical data protection against ransomware, insider attacks and hackers for businesses and organisations worldwide.

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO is the market leader in HPE Non-Stop Security, Risk Management and Compliance.

Senetas

Senetas

Senetas is a leading developer and manufacturer of certified high-assurance encryption solutions, dedicated to protecting network transmitted data without compromising performance.

PhishLabs

PhishLabs

PhishLabs provides 24/7 services that help organizations protect against the cyberattacks targeting their employees, their customers and their brands.

Potomac Institute for Policy Studies

Potomac Institute for Policy Studies

Potomac Institute undertakes research on key science, technology, and national security issues facing society, Study areas include cybersecurity.

RazorSecure

RazorSecure

RazorSecure offers products and services to enhance railway cyber security, by protecting and monitoring networks and key systems.

Applied Risk

Applied Risk

Applied Risk is an established leader in Industrial Control Systems security, focused on critical infrastructure security and combating security breaches that pose a significant threat.

iFluids Engineering

iFluids Engineering

iFluids Engineering is a leading engineering consulting and risk management firm providing a full range of services including Cyber Security for Industrial Control Systems.

Tech-Recycle

Tech-Recycle

Tech-Recycle was formed to help companies and individuals securely, ethically and easily recycle their IT and office equipment. We destroy all data passed to us safely and securely.

Cyber Security Courses

Cyber Security Courses

Cyber Security Courses was formed to help students in the UK find cyber security courses online.

Security Weaver

Security Weaver

Security Weaver is a leading provider of governance, risk and compliance management (GRCM) software.

BugDazz

BugDazz

BugDazz pentest as a service (PTaaS) platform helps bringing in real-time results, detail coverage, & easy remediation workflows with compliance-ready reports.

Appsec Phoenix

Appsec Phoenix

Appsec Phoenix is an end to end vulnerability management platform that focuses on workflows, threat feed, and real time data.

Ibento Global

Ibento Global

Ibento organises the CyberX series of cybersecurity conferences.

Solvo

Solvo

Solvo enables security teams and other stakeholders to automatically uncover, prioritize, mitigate and remediate cloud infrastructure access risks.

BluTinuity

BluTinuity

BluTinuity is a premier management consulting firm with a passion for information security, business continuity, incident response, disaster recovery, and HIPAA security.

Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners provide capital, expertise, and support for growth-aspiring technology companies.

Orca Tech

Orca Tech

Orca Tech brings together a portfolio of complimentary vendor in the IT security industry to help provide a complete solution to meet the requirements of our Partners across all sectors.