US: Yes, It’s Possible to Hack the Election, by Richard Clarke on ABC News, a PC news source showing considerable pro-Hillary bias. Clearly both sides are nervous that the election count may be hacked. There is more at stake than usual at this US presidential election, which might lead to claims of an illegitimate election from the loser.
After reports of alleged Russian hacking into Democratic Party computer networks, some commentators have suggested that the Russians could hack the results of the U.S. elections. Other analysts have, well before this year’s campaign, suggested that election results in the U.S. could be electronically manipulated, including by our fellow Americans. …
I have had three jobs that, together, taught me at least one thing: If it’s a computer, it can be hacked. …
The U.S., according to media reports, hacked in to the Iranian nuclear centrifuge control system even though the entire system was air-gapped from the internet. The Russians, according to authoritative accounts, hacked into the Pentagon’s SIPRNet, a secret-level system separate from the internet. North Koreans, computer forensics experts have told me, penetrated SWIFT, the international banking exchange system. Iranians allegedly wiped clean all software on over 30,000 devices in the Aramco oil company. The White House, the State Department and your local fast food joint have all been hacked. Need I go on?
Now consider that a majority of states use some kind of combination of electronic voting and a type of paper trail, but there is no standard nationwide. …
In America’s often close elections, a little manipulation could go a long way. …
A slight alteration of the vote in some swing precincts in swing states might not raise suspicion. 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, and that malware can also be programmed to erase itself after it does its job, so there might be no trace it ever happened.
Should have paper ballots, so they can be checked and recounted until everyone is satisfied that the count is accurate. Electronic counting is a recipe for disaster.
