Consider the implications of discovering potential vulnerabilities in voting machines that may be exploited. Now, envision the unsettling realization that these vulnerabilities cannot be addressed prior to the presidential election on November 5, as indicated by a recent report.
This situation unfolded in Las Vegas over the weekend, where some of the most skilled hackers convened to attempt unauthorized access to voting machines, with the aim of assisting officials in identifying and rectifying these security flaws, as reported by Politico.
Unfortunately, they found that any necessary corrections to these issues would not be feasible before the upcoming election in November. Each August, the DEF CON conference brings together top hackers to uncover flaws in voting technology. However, due to the intricate nature of the remediation process, no solutions are typically implemented until the subsequent election cycle.
This year’s election is perceived with heightened scrutiny.
This shift in perception is partly attributed to fears regarding foreign interference with the voting machines, as well as the unverified allegations of fraud in the 2020 election made by President Donald Trump. Such claims have significantly undermined confidence in the electoral system among his supporters.
“As far as time goes, it is hard to make any real, major, systemic changes, but especially 90 days out from the election,” said Catherine Terranova, one of the organizers of the DEF CON “Voting Village” event.
The annual event, which has been conducted for nearly ten years, revealed “multiple pages” of potential vulnerabilities, according to Harri Hursti, co-founder of Voting Village.
The organizers intend to release a report detailing the findings from this year’s event. While Hursti did not specify the exact issues identified, he noted that they were consistent with previously discovered problems.
In 2016, Russian hackers targeted the Democratic presidential campaign and compromised voter registration databases across several U.S. states. This year, the campaign of former President Donald Trump experienced a hacking incident, which was attributed to Iran.
“If you don’t think this kind of place is running 24/7 in China, Russia, you’re kidding yourselves,” Hursti said, referring to the hackers’ work with voting equipment. “We are here only for two and a half days, and we find stuff…it would be stupid to assume that the adversaries don’t have absolute access to everything.”
Elon Musk, who has endorsed Trump, posted about the issue on X, formerly Twitter, saying, “Uhh … what? Let’s use paper ballots!”
Uhh … what? Let’s use paper ballots! https://t.co/7jZ7UPc1AI
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024
