The POLITICO website reports, “There’s a largely overlooked hacking target that could help those who want to sow doubt about vote tallies in the November midterms cellular modems that transmit unofficial election-night results.”
October 17, 2022
The report acknowledges that the modems transmit voting data from individual precincts via cellphone networks to central offices, and the process provides fast results. However, the report further explains that attaching any connection via networking to election machines offers new ways for attacking the network that does not involve physically accessing the election machine. Security experts say taking risks isn’t worth the rewards.
Computer science professor Dan Wallach of Rice University, who has exposed flaws in equipment used in elections on numerous occasions, said, “You’re counting on a bunch of infrastructures to deliver data back and forth, and it’s well within the capabilities of nation-state hackers to break into that infrastructure.”
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October 17, 2022
POLITICO further explains that tampering wouldn’t corrupt the outcome of an election, but it could hurt the integrity of the election process and question the vote tally, as was the case with the alleged widespread fraud and discrepancies in the 2020 presidential campaign.
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According to a POLITICO survey, modem transmission occurs in 36 counties combined in six states, which include Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts, Iowa, Illinois, and Florida. Washington, D.C., is a citywide user of modems, and Rhode Island is statewide. Verified Voting, an election integrity group in Wisconsin, did not respond to its state’s modem usage.
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According to POLITICO, some former election officials say the fact that modern vulnerabilities exist could result in the disruption of midterm elections as well as future contests.
David Levine, a fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, said, “In the current hyperpolarized atmosphere, modems in voting machines are now not only a potential target for cyberattacks, but, perhaps more importantly, information operations seeking to cast doubt on the legitimacy of U.S. elections.”