[ale] [OT] Inside A U.S. Election Vote Counting Program

[tfreeman at intel.digichem.net]

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003, John Marasco wrote:

> What if MS hired Bev Harris (and others) to floated a bunch of stories like this and they all turned out to be overreactions or just plain false?  Wouldn't the public start ignoring stories of MS security flaws?  If we are being paranoid that is...
> 
> Does Bev Harris have any credentials that would give us confidence in her analysis of software architecture?  I can think of many legitimate reasons to keep "duplicate books" when architecting software that have little to do with dubious accounting practices.  Mixing metaphors like this is a red flag.
> 
> The use of Access would indicate to me that this might be a RAD proof of concept and not the final product.  The fact that the application was/is available by FTP is another sign that this isnÂ’t the production version.  Access has file level security and encryption that isnÂ’t mentioned either...
> 
> Who are Bev HarrisÂ’ customers?  She makes a living by getting stories in the news and this story looks designed to make the headlines.  So, is this the truth (whole truth and nothing but) or just "designed" to make the headlines?
> 
> "We specialize in getting stories into the news." -- Quote from Bev HarriisÂ’ company Talion
> 
> Is the sky really falling or is someone trying to get us to look up so they can snatch something (like public trust)?  This story seems tailor made for an overreaction by the Linux community.  ItÂ’s interesting (and concerning if true) but I would check the links to BevÂ’s source material before relying exclusively on her presentation of the facts.
> 
> my $0.02...

You make basically valid points. Still, I'd accept the story as 
supporting evidence of the need for a very public, very professional audit 
of the system _before_ implementing live voting in my district. 

> 
> > From: Joe Steele <joe at madewell.com>
> > Date: 2003/07/09 Wed PM 02:14:03 EDT
> > To: "'ale at ale.org'" <ale at ale.org>
> > Subject: [ale] [OT] Inside A U.S. Election Vote Counting Program
> > 
> > Since the issue of electronic voting security has been discussed on 
> > the ale list in the past, I forward the following link for anyone 
> > interested who has not seen it yet.
> > 
> > http://www.blackboxvoting.com/scoop/S00065.htm
> > 
> > --Joe
<<snip>>
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