Dieb-Throat

[FFTT]

Zimv20 has been covering this in several other threads, but I came across
another related story posted on www.Bradblog.com

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001838.htm

Blogged by Brad on 9/15/2005 @ 11:05am PT...

* EXCLUSIVE! * A DIEBOLD INSIDER SPEAKS!
DIEB-THROAT : 'Diebold System One of Greatest Threats Democracy Has Ever Known'
Identifies U.S. Homeland Security 'Cyber Alert' Prior to '04 Election Warning Votes Can be 'Modified Remotely' via 'Undocumented Backdoor' in Central Tabulator Software!

In exclusive stunning admissions to The BRAD BLOG some 11 months after the 2004 Presidential Election, a "Diebold Insider" is now finally speaking out for the first time about the alarming security flaws within Diebold, Inc's electronic voting systems, software and machinery. The source is acknowledging that the company's "upper management" -- as well as "top government officials" -- were keenly aware of the "undocumented backdoor" in Diebold's main "GEM Central Tabulator" software well prior to the 2004 election. A branch of the Federal Government even posted a security warning on the Internet.

Pointing to a little-noticed "Cyber Security Alert" issued by the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the source inside Diebold -- who "for the time being" is requesting anonymity due to a continuing sensitive relationship with the company -- is charging that Diebold's technicians, including at least one of its lead programmers, knew about the security flaw and that the company instructed them to keep quiet about it.

"Diebold threatened violators with immediate dismissal," the insider, who we'll call DIEB-THROAT, explained recently to The BRAD BLOG via email. "In 2005, after one newly hired member of Diebold's technical staff pointed out the security flaw, he was criticized and isolated."

In phone interviews, DIEB-THROAT confirmed that the matters were well known within the company, but that a "culture of fear" had been developed to assure that employees, including technicians, vendors and programmers kept those issues to themselves.

The "Cyber Security Alert" from US-CERT was issued in late August of 2004 and is still available online via the US-CERT website. The alert warns that "A vulnerability exists due to an undocumented backdoor account, which could [sic: allow] a local or remote authenticated malicious user [sic: to] modify votes."

The alert, assessed to be of "MEDIUM" risk on the US-CERT security bulletin, goes on to add that there is "No workaround or patch available at time of publishing."

http://www.bradblog.com/Images/Diebthroat_SecWarning.jpg

I Googled Deep-Throat and found that this story is making the rounds,
but it can't hurt to forward this story to your local papers and radio stations requesting coverage.

[skunk]

Is this for real? :eek:

[IJ Reilly]

Is this for real? :eek:

Sort of. This is one bit taken out of context in the general fracas currently ongoing over electronic voting and the sad fact that it cannot be made secure, but we're being pushed relentlessly towards it anyhow. A more complete discussion:

http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/8/10294.html

Don't expect to understand much of it.

[zimv20]

http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/8/10294.html

Bev Harris' post -- the first reply -- is interesting.

[FFTT]

It may not be breaking news, but it certainly casts doubt on the validity
of the 2004 election results.

I'm glad Bev at BBV took the time to respond.

[IJ Reilly]

Bev Harris' post -- the first reply -- is interesting.

Yeah, but it's still not clear (to me) just how much this particular tabulating system has been deployed. I've heard so many stories about major holes in electronic voting systems that I'm already completely convinced that they'll never be secure, or at least any more secure than the old sort of voting.

[solvs]

You know, in the past I would have called this paranoia. But after seeing a report where they showed exactly how easy is it to cheat the system, I'm not so sure. I think if we knew half of what really went on in this country, our heads would explode.

[FFTT]

Until laws, litigation or prison force them to do otherwise,
Diebold has come up with a highly marketable "Election System"
that can, for all intents and purposes, literally guarantee the outcome
of any election in any country, state or locality where it is put to use.

[IJ Reilly]

You know, in the past I would have called this paranoia. But after seeing a report where they showed exactly how easy is it to cheat the system, I'm not so sure. I think if we knew half of what really went on in this country, our heads would explode.

I'm not trying to discount what you are saying, but you should consider that voting fraud has been going on for a very long time. I grew up in New Jersey, where it was not unheard of for a candidate to garner more votes than there were registered voters. The wrong person hardly ever won an election in some counties in Jersey. This was in the days of voting booths where you pulled an actual level to cast a vote. A low tech system, but easy to defraud if somebody could be induced to look the other way.

[solvs]

I'm not trying to discount what you are saying, but you should consider that voting fraud has been going on for a very long time.
Like I said, if we only knew. ;)